May/June 2020

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Edition 295/6 May/June 2020

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Edition 295/6

CONTENTS COLUMNISTS SA FLYER

12 18 22 30 34 38 46

Guy Leitch - ATTITUDE FOR ALTITUDE Peter Garrison - LEADING EDGE Jim Davis - PLANE TALK

FLIGHTCOM

9 Bush Pilot - Hugh Pryor 13 Airline Ops - Mike Gough 21 Leagle Eagle - Prof. Salazar 25 Defence - Darren Olivier

George Tonking - HELI OPS Johan Walden - A SLIM LOGBOOK Ray Watts - REGISTER REVIEW Jim Davis - ACCIDENT REPORT

6 May/June 2020 | www.saflyer.com

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Edition 295/6

CONTENTS FEATURES SA FLYER

42 52 56 62 78

Hauling Heavy, Covid-19 Narrow escape from Carbon Monoxide Letters Flight Test: SONACA 200 A Storm Front from Hell

FLIGHTCOM

5 15 17 29

Quote of the month Tswalu Anti-Poaching Unit Airline Morality - Dassie Persaud Savage Barn Find in Uganda

REGULARS 10

Opening Shot

28 SV Aviation Fuel Table 39 M&N Acoustics Register Review

FLIGHTCOM

33 Alpi Flight School Listing 34 AME Directory 37 AEP AMO Listing 39 Federal Airlines Charter Directory 40 Aviation Directory 8 May/June 2020 | www.saflyer.com

POSITION REPORT

T

lockdown

very commendably listened to the pleas of

has been a testing time for

grounded general aviation pilots on the need

everyone.

to exercise their engines – and maintain their

HE

Covid-19

After

initially

own proficiency.

rejecting

the idea of doing a digital

Piston aircraft engines are not like car

only version of SA Flyer and FlightCom, it

engines. They are very vulnerable to corrosive

became evident that under the constraints

residues, from amongst other things, the TEL

of Covid-19 we have no choice, at least for

and sulphur in fuel. For this reason, aircraft

the next couple of months. Quite simply, it is

engines perish quickly when they are not

impossible to get out there and see people

used, particularly in coastal climates.

in the industry, and most businesses are

Fortunately, pleas to limit the damage

locked into survival mode and are therefore

done to engines, and to pilot proficiency,

not in the mood for spending money on

from the irrational country-wide grounding

advertising and investing in their business’s

of general aviation in the lockdown, fell on

growth.

receptive ears at the regulator. They have

For this reason, SA Flyer has taken

shown a remarkable willingness to make it

the opportunity to give back to the aviation

possible for pilots to at least fly their aircraft

industry which has supported us so loyally

– to keep the engine healthy and pilot skills intact.

for the past 25 years. We have offered all our loyal (and paid up!) advertisers free advertising for this combined

It is especially gratifying to see that the regulator has not sunk

issue and were overwhelmed by the response. This combined May

back behind a ‘jobsworths’ wall of bureaucratic obfuscation and

and June issue has therefore become a bumper one.

genuinely has the best interests of the industry at heart, even if it

One of the other unexpected benefits of the lockdown is that I have been honoured to receive a number of different and unusual contributions from excellent writers, who would otherwise not have

means pushing back against central government’s often absurd restrictions.

As people who are passionate about general aviation, we are missing the airshow season – and flying.

the time to contribute to a magazine.

We are thus thrilled to be able to start a new series, from Dr Mark

Stay well and let’s not forget: This too shall pass.

Guy Leitch

Holliday, a Grand Prix glider pilot. Doc Holliday’s series of eleven articles on his many gliding outlandings is fascinating, not only for glider pilots, but also for power pilots, who should continually be

EDITOR & PUBLISHER

aware of forced landing possibilities should their only engine fail – or

guy@saflyermag.co.za

their fuel tanks have ‘unexpectedly filled with air’.

Good news too is that the Covid-19 lockdown has brought out the best in some quarters of the SACAA. Despite the regulator facing an economic catastrophe in that the vast majority of its income comes from passenger taxes levied on the airlines, the regulator has

SALES MANAGER Wayne Wilson wayne@saflyermag.co.za

PRODUCTION & LAYOUT Emily-Jane Kinnear emily@saflyermag.co.za

OFFICE: 8 Victory Way, Simon's Town, Cape Town, 7975

TRAFFIC Daniel Leitch traffic.admin@saflyermag.co.za

SUBSCRIPTIONS subs@saflyermag.co.za

Distribution

ACCOUNTS accounts@saflyermag.co.za TRAVEL EDITOR Nicola Leitch nicola@saflyermag.co.za

10 May/June 2020 | www.saflyer.com

PO Box 71052, Bryanston, 2021, South Africa istribution by On The Dot (Throughout SA and Africa to approximately 1 000 stores), CNA, PNA, Exclusive D Books, Pick n Pay as well as selected Spars, and convenience stores. Sales into Africa: Namibia, Zambia, Malawi, Zimbabwe, Botswana, Kenya, Ethiopia, Swaziland, Moçambique and Madagascar. Unsold distributed to selected clinics, airport lounges, doctor’s rooms, garages, selected hotels and lodges and Airport Shops.

Important

pinions expressed in signed articles, News & views or in advertisements appearing in SA Flyer, are those of O the author or advertiser and do not reflect those of this journal nor of its publisher. The mention of specific companies or products in articles or advertisements, does not imply that they are endorsed or recommended by this journal or its publisher in preference to others of a similar nature which are not mentioned or advertised. © SA Flyer 2020 All rights reserved worldwide. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted by any means, electronically, mechanically, photocopied, recorded or otherwise without the express permission of the copyright holders.

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OPENING SHOT

12 May/June 2020 | www.saflyer.com

Send your submissions to guy@saflyermag.co.za

T

HIS wonderful photograph celebrates two things - the pending ending of the devastating Covid-19 pandemic – and the invaluable work of the firefighting helicopters.

After a storm over Stellenbosch the sun broke through and created this magically biblical rainbow over the Hottentots Holland mountains. Charmaine Jackson, matriarch of the famed helicopter Jackson family, was on hand to capture the golden light and rainbow over their Bell 205 Huey with her iPhone 8.

13 www.saflyer.com | May/June 2020

ATTITUDE FOR ALTITUDE GUY LEITCH

SAA: The bubble that defies gravity It is an old joke in South

African aviation that; “Many Rands make

flight work.” Yet SAA is

expected to achieve the

impossible – to stay in the

air without money.

Is SAA floating in a bubble of delusion?

T

HE Minister of No Money,

writing, no one will be getting their salaries

dark force – a pervasive sense of entitlement.

Tito Mboweni, has made

for May.

Like a war in the heavens, there is an epic

it clear – there are no more

Rands

for

SAA.

Yet SAA’s unions have persuaded The Minister

of Mismanaged State-Owned Enterprises

Around the world strong, well managed

battle between two opposing powers. Either

airlines have been grounded by the loss of

the forces of rational economics win the

revenue from the Covid-19 pandemic. SAA

battle and ground the airline, or the plaintive

is in the stupid corner and should have been

pleadings of labour succeed in keeping the

closed down at the first sign of Covid – if not

airline flying, like a hobo – without visible

Pravin Gordhan to keep the airline going.

years earlier. But in South Africa, there is an

means of support. Abused taxpayers have

He buckled to pressure and promised no

even stronger force than money.

invested R30 billion so far into this battle

retrenchments, even though at time of

14 May/June 2020 | www.saflyer.com

SAA faces a particularly dangerous and

of labour against economics. which is one

of the reasons SAA holds an extraordinary

What is also remarkable is that the

a plan. They presented four scenarios to the

unions have managed what was previously

government as the shareholder. However,

The battle is epic. The airline industry

thought impossible, and that was to form

government threw all the scenarios out,

has shrunk the world. It crams hundreds of

a united labour aristocracy in the face of

because Mboweni didn’t have the required

people into paper thin aluminium tubes and

a common enemy – economic reality. The

R7.7 billion and Gordhan wasn’t prepared to

carries them through the sky at 1000 km/h

tensions in labour run deep. It was not so

countenance 66% job cuts. So, it was back

with amazing safety. Visiting friends and

long ago that Transport and Allied Workers’

to the drawing board for the BRPs.

relatives on cheap tickets from the low-cost

Union general secretary Zenzo Mahlangu

fascination for us.

carriers has made it possible to visit Aunt Ethel halfway across the country for her birthday.

These are just some of many reasons why tin-pot African governments cling to their ‘flag carrier’ airlines. Flag carriers have become an anachronism – valued only by banana republics in the misguided hope that they may be noticed on the world stage. There is no longer a ‘jet-set’ – just harassed travellers. The notion of the world admiring your flag on the tail of your airliners is absurd. You don’t get to see the tail of the airline you are flying on when you walk down an airbridge. And you may loyally book a flight on your home airline, only to discover

Meanwhile the private funders who

“The trouble with socialism is that eventually you run out of other people’s money.” Margaret Thatcher

that you are flying on an entirely different airline under a code share arrangement.

Yet the South African government

called SAA pilots ‘glorified bus drivers’ – the

had

persists in investing taxpayers’ money into

ultimate insult. Now the unions have united

(which government had failed to match as

coughed

up

another

R2

billion,

its flag carrier. The arrival of the Covid-19

to form a happy leadership compact. They

promised) insisted on expensive New York

pandemic should have been the final blow.

say they even have a business plan on how

consultants; Alvarez & Marsal. Then the

Yet, absurdly, Covid-19 has been a blessing

to run the airline.

Covid-19 lockdown arrived, and it became

for SAA. While the rest of the world’s airlines

Allow me to digress briefly into the

impossible to plan at all. Yet Gordhan and

are on the ropes, SAA has been saved by

subject of business plans. In another unholy

the unions now use this nonproduction of a

the disease.

alliance, the unions and Minister Gordhan

plan to claim that the BRPs have failed to

The Covid-19 lockdown forced SAA to

teamed up to hammer the business rescue

deliver anything of value. (The BRPs plan is

stop flying its schedule, and thus to stop

practitioners (BRPs) over their ‘failure to

due at the end of May).

haemorrhaging money on almost every

produce a plan’. I believe this is unfair. The

With 20-20 hindsight, the BRPs were

route. And now there is the mouth-watering

BRPs had until the end of January to produce

never going to win against labour. A business

prospect of R500 billion for Covid relief out there for the taking. And, if that’s not enough, there is R100 billion available for job protection. So, what’s another R10 billion to keep SAA going?

With the current non-payment of salaries, its previously untouchable employees have finally realised that the game might be over. This has united otherwise fractious unions into what can only be described as a magnificent fight back against Mboweni’s “No more money” assertion.

The thing is, to the unions there is always lots of money – SAA has long proven that you just have to shout loud enough to get more than your fair share. Thus, the unions made it possible for SAA to defy economic gravity, enabling SAA to float in a splendid

Have SAA employees cut off the branch they are sitting on?

bubble of unreality.

15 www.saflyer.com | May/June 2020

ATTITUDE FOR ALTITUDE

rescue process is about hard economic

sustainable airline, especially with even the

airline was already on its knees as – you

realities – any one of which will prick labour’s

strongest airlines on their knees, begging

guessed it – there was no more money.

bubble.

for government support. IATA reckons that

This sense of entitlement has no place

The question must be: how long can

it will take at least 18 months before airlines

in the hard realities of running a successful,

this magical defying of gravity continue? I’m

can begin to operate sustainably. Meanwhile

sustainable, airline. The message that

reminded of Margaret Thatcher’s famous

SAA has been all but wiped out, with the

must be taken from this is that airlines

comment; “The trouble with socialism is

return of many of its leased aircraft and a

have massive capital costs and paper-thin

that eventually you run out of other people’s

widespread loss of confidence in the airline.

margins. Any inefficiencies or distortions in

the

The loss of confidence means that few

the drive for a profit driven bottom line will be

unthinkable and uses some of the R500

if any of the travel agencies, which book

billion it has conjured out of thin air for

high-value business flights, will risk their

Covid-19 relief to support SAA, then the

clients’ money on forward bookings. This is

hard reality must be that the government

what brought SAA to its knees in January,

has already run out of other people’s money.

as fallout from the culpably stupid and short-

No matter what plan may be produced,

sighted NUMSA and cabin crew strike.

there will be no quick fix towards a

These unions just didn’t get the fact that the

money.”

Unless

government

does

16 May/June 2020 | www.saflyer.com

insurmountable for ‘a new SAA V2.0’.

j

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LEADING EDGE PETER GARRISON

THE WORLD’S WORST SELECTION For my birthday, somebody gave me a book entitled “The World’s Worst

Aircraft”. There are at least three books by that name, though you would suppose that one, or possibly even none, would have been enough.

T

HE project of identifying a distinct group of “worst” aircraft

labours

under

the same curse as those idiotic People Magazine nominations of the sexiest

man or woman in the world. The quality is subjective and indefinable; you know they didn’t check out all of the men or women in the world; and if they had, it is inconceivable that there would not be at least a three-way, if not a three-million-way, tie.

So it is with “worst” aircraft. There are no fixed standards; most of the truly hopeless specimens have sunk without a trace; and it is impossible to say why an aeroplane that

Convair's XC-99 with a sausage fuselage - the world's 'wurst' plane?

made the list is distinctly worse than many that didn’t. The author of the book I received dismisses his own project as a mere lark, good just for laughs. He is too kind. some

Wrights made their first flight, he declares

and inadequate tail surfaces.” Actually, the

of his choices, my author camouflages

it incapable of flight only a few paragraphs

horn balances and wing sweep were neither

his

historical-sounding

after reporting that a quarter-scale model

unusual nor bad; in fact, they became

commentary that is often as far off base as

had flown successfully. It’s true that models

standard on later biplanes. A. R. Weyl’s

the designs he mocks. In his introduction, for

often perform better than their full-scale

deeply researched biography of Fokker

example, he describes McDonnell Douglas

counterparts, usually because of larger

reports that on 11 October 1916 the D-5

as having “blood on its hands” because

power-to-weight ratios. But that Langley’s

was recommended by the German aircraft

of several infamous DC-10 crashes, but

big tandem-wing was “incapable of flight” is

Inspectorate for production “as a promising

blames those on “sloppy maintenance”,

really a stretch, especially given that Glenn

type with very good flying qualities.” It proved

not “design defects”. Actually, what was

Curtiss later flew one only slightly modified.

unpopular with pilots, perhaps because of its

Clearly

uncomfortable

confusion

with

with

conspicuous about some of the big DC-10

The author often deploys knowledge that

comparatively unreliable engine and a sharp

disasters was precisely that they were due

he does not possess. He includes the Fokker

stall, but that hardly set it apart from many

to design defects.

D-5 with its “Oberosel powerplant” (he

other aeroplanes of the era.

Langley

means Oberursel) in his list, characterising

Aerodrome, which plunged ignominiously

it as “dreadful” and “difficult to fly, with horn-

makes his cut. Small, sleek and fast, with

into the Potomac only days before the

balanced ailerons on a swept upper wing

a mid-mounted engine and tricycle gear,

In

his

chapter

on

the

20 May/June 2020 | www.saflyer.com

Similarly,

the

Bell

P-39

Airacobra

The Blohm - Voss BV141 was innovative but far from the world's worst.

COLUMNS

the Airacobra, designed in 1937, was ahead of its time, but it was hampered by too little wingspan and the lack of a proper supercharger that would help it overcome the detrimental effect short span has on rate of climb at altitude. Like many of the shortcomings that have plagued military aeroplanes, the lack of a good supercharger was the result of procurement rather than

contemporaries – the P-39, for instance,

design

or the Brewster Buffalo – and experimental

decisions.

Nevertheless,

nearly

10,000 P-39s were built – hardly an indication

prototypes,

of a failed design. If the Airacobra was no

Goblin parasite fighter or the vertical-

like

the

McDonnell

XF-85

match for the light and agile Japanese Zero

takeoff XFY-1 “Pogo”, which were built

in the Pacific theater, it was well-armoured

to test novel concepts and were never

and fast at low level and served well enough

expected to be “good aeroplanes” in the

complexity without much increasing their

in Africa and Russia in ground attack and

sense that the DC-3 or the Spitfire were.

output, while jets and turboprops were still

aerial support roles. It scarcely deserves

He mines the early years of aviation for

in their infancy but evolving rapidly. The

to be classed among the world’s worst

“worst aeroplanes”, when, as any historian

form that future air travel would take was

aeroplanes.

of aviation knows, that was a time in which

unclear. At such a time, the kind of long-term

The author himself sometimes can’t

aeroplane design was largely guesswork

decisions involved in creating an airliner

seem to make up his mind whether an

and the great majority of prototypes, even

were particularly difficult to make.

aeroplane is bad or actually, perhaps, pretty

ones coming from reputable firms like

Bombarded with riddles, the designers

good. The inclusion of the Blohm & Voss

Fokker, were quickly discarded. In fact, so

of the Brabazon got almost every answer

BV-141 manifests this ambivalence. The

few aeroplanes, comparatively speaking,

wrong. It started off as an 80-passenger

141 was a single-engine reconnaissance

have been “very good” or “great” that it is

luxury liner powered by eight Centaurus

and ground attack aeroplane which the

practically impossible to plumb the sea of

sleeve-valve radials of nearly 3,000 hp

company submitted, uninvited, to a 1937

mediocrity below them.

each buried, like the engines of the B-36

competition; it lost out to a Focke-Wulf

While some of the aeroplanes here

bomber, in the thick wing and driving four

proposal. Asymmetrical, with an off-centre

are truly grotesque – even a blind gunman

sets of contra-rotating propellers. At a

uninhabited fuselage, a big glass-enclosed

may hit something – many achieve a sort of

cruising speed of around 250 knots it would

pod to the right of it housing the crew

splendour even in failure. A couple of giant

take a while to make the London-New York

of three, and a horizontal stabiliser that

American transports, the Constellation-

run, and with this, and perhaps the Queen

projected only to the left of the fin to give the

based

the

Mary, in mind the designers assigned each

gunner a clearer field of fire, it was certainly a

Convair Model 37, a B-36 with the bomber’s

passenger 200 cubic feet of living space, an

daring design. The author makes a comedy

slender fuselage replaced by a huge double-

extravagance that would make modern first-

of it, with the obtuse Germans refusing to

decker sausage – perhaps it was the world’s

class travellers envious. The radials were

“appropriate a single pfenning” (meaning

Wurst aeroplane – arrived, like Howard

eventually replaced by turboprops, but the

Pfennig) for its production and the British

Hughes’s

Goose,

project already “reeked”, as the apparently

clutching their sides with laughter. Actually,

too late for World War II. The Convair

un-proofread book puts it, of obsolescence.

this was not the most unconventional design

saw service, however, and remained for a

A poultice for Britain’s wounded vanity, the

to be considered by the Luftwaffe, whose

long time the largest transport ever built.

one Brab ever completed was eventually cut

appetite for innovation far exceeded that

The single prototype logged 7,400 hours

up, like the Empire, for scrap.

of any Allied air arm, and the reasons for

between 1947 and its retirement 10 years

What the book’s flippant commentary

the 141’s rejection, in spite of its pleasant

later and hauled 60 million pounds of cargo

fails to evoke is the paradoxical grandeur even

flying qualities, good performance, and the

for the Air Force – not, by any measure, a

of disasters like the Brabazon. Aeroplanes

patronage of World War I ace and Luftwaffe

total failure.

are not mere toys. However misconceived,

Lockheed

Constitution

idiosyncratic

Spruce

and

bigwig Ernst Udet, probably had relatively

One of the most impressive machines in

they come into being trailing clouds of glory.

little to do with its peculiar appearance. The

the book is the Bristol Brabazon, a vast – 230-

Many men and women devoted themselves

author calls the 141, which he admits was

foot span – assemblage of graceful curves

for years to the Brabazon, to its beautiful

reliable and “remarkably aerodynamic”, “the

and design missteps. Oddly, the project was

lines, to its staggering size, to its structural

most asymmetrical aeroplane ever flown”,

first conceived during World War II, when

and systems innovations, to the sunlit vision

evidently forgetting the even more extreme

you would have thought the British had

of it some day soaring stately over the

Rutan Boomerang.

other things on their minds. The aeroplane

Atlantic. Every new aeroplane – even a bad

The author does not seem to distinguish

was designed and built during a postwar

one – is the love of someone’s life. The affair

between production aeroplanes that merely

period full of uncertainty. Reciprocating

may end in disappointment, but we have to

proved to be inferior to some of their

engines had grown to daunting size and

remember the passion that once was there.

j 21

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PLANE TALK JIM DAVIS

SLIPS & SLINGS I have just watched an Aussie flying school’s promotional video. It’s all about how this pupe on a solo cross-country in a Sling 2 has an engine failure.

Perhaps I should say engine stoppage, because I am not sure how much of the problem was pilot induced.

He does everything according to the book and – presto! – he lands safely in a field without damage.

Good Dog Spot.

heading while he scrabbled through a pile

W

us have come to trust over the years. We

HAT’S this got to do with

sideslipping?

Actually, a hell of a lot – you’ll see why as we go along.

But first, for the newcomers to aviation, I should explain that sideslipping is a way of deliberately using crossed controls – the ailerons in one direction and just enough opposite rudder to prevent a turn.

It has three main uses. First, it’s one way of doing a crosswind landing. Second, you can use it to direct smoke or flames away from the cockpit if you have an engine fire.

Finally, it’s a useful way of adjusting your rate of descent in a glide approach or forced landing. That’s the bit I want to chat about today.

Sideslipping is what Good Dog Spot should have been doing and wasn’t. He should’ve come in high and slipped off the excess height. The only thing that saved him from hitting the fence at flying speed, and possibly ending in a ball of flames, was the Greek goddess Tyche of Antioch – who looks after old ladies and student pilots. No skill required.

So now you know what sideslipping is

24 May/June 2020 | www.saflyer.com

of paperwork on the passenger seat until he found the engine failure checklist. He went through it very methodically but was unable to restart the engine, which seemed to be his number one priority.

Then he had several stabs at making a Mayday call into a dead radio. But that didn’t work very well because the aircraft had run out of electricity. This turned out to be the reason the engine had stopped.

I should explain that Slings don’t have the same sort of ignition systems most of

about, we can continue with the adventures

are familiar with magnetos – those self-

of Spot.

contained systems that generate electricity

He’s just passed over an airfield at 2500

and distribute it to the spark plugs at the right

ft AGL. When the engine stops, he’s three

time. They don’t rely on a battery or any other

miles away. The Sling is an excellent glider

form of external power. And old fashioned

and could easily have reached the field if

‘contilycosauruses’ have two magnetos, for

he had simply turned round and headed

added safety and a tiny bit more power.

that way, but he didn’t – he maintained his Rotax generators

Slings are fitted with Austrian Rotax

25 www.saflyer.com | May/June 2020

as well as working as magnetos to make sparks for the plugs.

Those who remember Villiers powered motorbikes will recall they had a thing called a flywheel magdyno which did the same thing more than 100 years ago – so it’s not a new idea. I had a Francis Barnett fitted with one of these engines. Every now and then, gases from the crankcase would seep through into the magdyno until the mixture Scrabbling to read checklists - instead of planning a proper descent.

was just right to be ignited by the points.

Then there’d be a hell of a bang and the casing – a saucepan-like thing – would be flung across the road into oncoming traffic or a passing pedestrian.

So, I’ve never quite overcome my mistrust of these things.

In a Cherokee or a Cessna, if the battery dies, or you have an electrical fire or failure, or you switch off the master switch, the engine keeps running just fine.

But in aircraft powered by Rotax 912 iS and 915 iS fuel injection engines, it’s a different story. The injectors need battery electricity to power the dual fuel pumps. If both alternators fail and the battery goes

The Sling instrument panel usually has three warnings for an electrical failure.

flat, the engine stops – which is what seems to have happened here. But I’m not sure

engines that have curious electrical systems.

It seems that the new generation of

More than curious – they are bloody

aircraft, both large and small, are designed

difficult to understand even if you have the

to conform to the adage that you don’t need

handbook. I’ve just spent nearly an hour on

to know how they work, you just need to

the phone with Sean Russell, the engine

know how to work them. If this light comes

fundi and test pilot for Sling Aircraft. Shaun

on press that button – don’t ask why, JFDI.

is a knowledgeable guy and an excellent

Anyhow, it seems that these Rotaxes

explainer, but at the end of our chat I still had

have two alternators (which the Austrians

only a hazy idea of how the electrical and

sometimes call generators) – one’s big and

fuel systems work.

one’s small – and these charge the battery

Stretching the glide into a distant field.

whether it starves to death or if the plugs

If your radios fade and die, this often tells you that more electrical trouble is on the way stop firing. Perhaps it doesn’t matter either way – you still have a dead engine.

Here’s a good rule to remember in any light aircraft: if your radios fade and die, this often tells you that more electrical trouble is on the way. You may find that the fuel gauges creep down unpleasantly, and that your undercarriage and flaps are in a treacherous mood. Worse still, you won’t know when your gear is down and locked – because the lights won’t work – and you won’t be able to ask anyone.

26 May/June 2020 | www.saflyer.com

COLUMNS

And there’s still the odd case where an electrical failure will cause the engine to stop. I am thinking of Bob Kershaw and Peter Anderson who crashed their Twin Comanche, ZS-FAW, after they forgot to switch on the alternators. The battery lost power, and this closed the electric fuel selector solenoids for the tip tanks. Both engines stopped simultaneously, and they glided into Caledon where they did a belly landing. All because they forgot two little blue switches. FAW became known as Fork All Wheels.

Anyhow, let’s leave Spot gliding away from the airfield while rummaging through his paperwork on the passenger seat, and try to find out why his aeroplane ran out of electricity.

The video shows the flying school’s chief engineer explaining the almost unbelievable bit of bad luck. He says the aeroplane suffered an alternator failure and a simultaneous battery failure. He tells us that this is an almost unheard-of coincidence. When I call it unbelievable, I mean it – I don’t believe it.

I did some more research. The Rotax handbook, as I mentioned, loses something in the translation. The Austrians don’t seem to have words to distinguish between generators and alternators. My mate

Sling panel.

Deon Kraidy, who runs an excellent flying school in Hoedspruit, and has long experience of these engines, tells me that the alternators

they would have given him a couple of hours’ notice of an impending

not only charge the battery, they also serve as magnetos – making

engine failure. Next, he should have landed on the airfield he had just

sparks for the plugs.

passed. Failing that, I’d like to have seen him glide towards a slightly

If anything goes wrong with one or both of them, they have three

high downwind or base leg for a decent field within easy gliding

warning systems – a voltmeter, an ammeter and a big red warning

distance. Then on final approach, he should have sideslipped off the

light on the panel.

excess height and touched down a third of the way into the field.

I also muttered to my friend Paul-the-Battery, who knows all

The sideslip would be because his electric flaps were on strike.

about aircraft electrical systems. He confirmed my suspicion: what

But imagine the amount of control he would’ve had over the glide if

almost certainly happened was that the alternators failed, one at a

both the flaps and a sideslip were available.

time, and Spot didn’t notice the warnings, so the battery went flat.

This left no sparks and no fuel pumps – with obvious results.

What puzzled me was how the pupe didn’t see the red light. I could

For us, we have both in our tool bag for most landings. But how often have you seen an aircraft gracefully dip a wing in order to touch down in exactly the right spot? Sadly, it’s almost a lost art.

only think that the sun was shining on the panel – though the Sling

In a forced landing competition, if they said you can either sideslip

factory assures me this would make no difference. Then I suggested

or use flaps – not both – I would choose a sideslip any day. First, you

that the EFIS (Electronic Flight Information System) wouldn’t work if

are not restricted to notches – you can slip as much or as little as you

the battery went flat, but apparently that’s also incorrect – it has its

like. Next, if you slip to the left you have a wonderful view of where

own separate battery which will keep it going for at least 30 minutes

you are going. And finally, there are no rules about decreasing your

without external power.

sideslip – you can do that whenever you like, but decreasing your flap

Now we get to the sideslipping part.

I don’t know whether Spot had been taught to ANC (Aviate, Navigate and Communicate – in that order) – he should have been, but he skipped the Navigate bit. He should have pointed the aircraft at an easily reachable field, but he didn’t – he simply followed the spinner, slid past a dead tree, just cleared a fence, and squirmed into the very threshold of a firm dirt field. Hooray.

It’s wonderful that he got away with it, but it was pure luck. As it happens, there were many other fields he could have used – but he

setting on final is a big no-no.

a graceful sideslip says so much about the pilot

seemed to have no plan. He did a couple of vague exploratory turns and glided straight into this excellent field without any control over his rate of descent. No flaps and no sideslip.

It’s like getting a hole-in-one, or you teaching your five-year-old to play darts and she hits the bull with her first throw, then nails the double tops and triple tops with the next two darts. You have to tell her she is a very clever girl while grinding your teeth.

So, what should Spot have done to deserve our praise? First, he should have kept an eye on the electrical warnings in the cockpit –

Perhaps the most important thing is that a graceful sideslip says so much about the pilot. He is part of his machine, and it shows. The trouble is that probably no one will notice – at least they pretend not to. Only you will know who is really the boss of the aircraft.

Of course, if you are flying a taildragger and you can ease out of the slip just in time to touch down gently on all three wheels together – well what can I say? That is the ultimate landing.

In fact, sideslipping has the same aura as taildragging. Those

27 www.saflyer.com | May/June 2020

PLANE TALK who can’t do these things, pretend they are

flaps in the C-170, C-180, and C-172 we

not important. They feign contempt while

encountered a nose down pitch in forward

have a larger dorsal fin. This apparently

checking their banking app to see if they can

slips with the wing flaps deflected. In some

eliminated the pitch-down problem.

afford the training.

cases, it was severe enough to lift the

Thompson added that full-flap slips in

So why have we lost the art of the

pilot against his seat belt if he was slow

the newer model 172s (from 1972 onwards)

sideslip? I think it’s largely because we don’t

in checking the motion. For this reason

displayed “a mild pitch ‘pumping’ motion

need it anymore. At one time, flaps were

a caution note was placed in most of the

resulting from flap outboard-end vortex

rare, and sideslipping was a normal day-to-

owner’s manuals under “Landings” reading

impingement on the horizontal tail at some

day manoeuvre. But now, flaps do the job

“Slips should be avoided with flap settings

combinations of side-slip angle, power, and

of losing height without gaining speed. We

greater than 30 deg. due to a downward pitch

airspeed.”

never have to sideslip except for crosswind

encountered under certain combinations

In the pre-1972 172s, this can be a bit

landings – which we will discuss another

of airspeed, side-slip angle, and center of

alarming when it first happens – particularly

time.

gravity loadings”.

if it’s near the ground. So, on those aircraft,

In fact, some of the high-wing Cessna

in

I would advise against sideslipping close to

forbid

crosswind landings is normally performed

the ground with 30 degrees, or more, of flap.

sideslipping with flaps. The POH for the

with a minimum flap setting (for better

I have tested this fairly extensively and

Reims 172 is emphatic about this, and even

rudder control) this limitation did not apply

found that full flaps seem to blanket the

gives a reason:

to that maneuver. The cause of the pitching

rudder. You run out of rudder control very

singles

either

discourage

or

Since

wing-low

drift

correction

quickly. Imagine a slip to the left – the aircraft will try to weathercock left and you need full rudder to prevent this, even with only a small amount of bank.

I think slipping 172s is particularly dodgy in view of what Thompson said about the nose down pitch being “elusive” and hard to duplicate. As this only happens at particular combinations of airspeed, side-slip angle, and centre of gravity, you might get away with it for years. But one day you will hit the exact combination of conditions and she will stuff her nose into the ground when you least expect it.

Although

the

172Ls

larger

dorsal

apparently solved the pitch-down issue, they kept the cautionary note in the POH. The only other POH info on slipping that I can find, although useful, is woefully incomplete: A nude magdyno after the big bang.

Steep slips with flap settings greater

motion is the transition of a strong wing

1958 C-172: “prohibited”

than 20 deg are prohibited in the landing

downwash over the tail in straight flight to

1959 C-175: “prohibited”

approach due to the nose down moment

a lessened downwash angle over part of

1966 C-172F: “prohibited”

occurring under certain speed and bank

the horizontal tail caused by the influence

1972 C-172L:

angle conditions.

of a relative “upwash increment” from the

*First year of the big dorsal fin.

This is worth discussing because there are a lot of Cessnas around.

“should be avoided” *

upturned aileron in slipping flight.

Although not stated in the owner’s

Some of the manuals for older models

I couldn’t help wondering why Cessna

manuals, we privately encouraged flight

have been revised since then, and there’s

were pussy-footing around the subject, and

instructors to explore these effects at high

now no legal prohibition against slips with

seemingly changing their minds, so I did

altitude, and to pass on the information

flaps – but I would advise caution on the

some digging on the internet and came up

to their students. This phenomenon was

172s. I understand there’s no problem with

with this very interesting statement by Bill

elusive and sometimes hard to duplicate, but

the I50 and 152 models, and I don’t have

Thompson, who was Cessna’s Flight Test

it was thought that a pilot should be aware of

information on the other Cessna high-wing

and Aerodynamics Manager. Here’s what

its existence and know how to counteract it if

singles.

he had to say about slipping with full flaps in

it occurs close to the ground.

their high-wing singles: With the advent of the large slotted

28 May/June 2020 | www.saflyer.com

You’ll notice that beginning with the 1972 model (‘73 for European-built models), 172s

The Gleitch says I have run out of paper again, so I will have to complete my thoughts

j

on sideslipping next month. Sorry.

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• • • • •

HELI OPS GEORGE TONKING

FUN WITHOUT

RUNWAYS “Runways are for models” is oft quoted in many helicopter circles, usually followed by a cheeky chuckle, hopefully within earshot of a plank driver. In reality, that truth (that a helicopter doesn’t need a runway) is a half-truth at best. The difficulty comes in with the very nature of a helicopter, in that it can land pretty much anywhere.

Final approach to Ultimate heliport.

Y

unlike off-airport, unprepared landing zones.

jock as well as the newby PPL fresh out of

dropping brides off at

Let’s take a closer look at landing a

flight school. The truth is, all pilots, whether

weddings, or performing

helicopter off-airport. How to do it as legally

inexperienced, or with many flight hours

a medevac straight to

and safely as possible.

under their belts, are statistically more

OU don’t see fixed wings

the hospital, do you?

But runways should not

be (and, in reality, are not) overlooked by

When training, we’re taught how to fly

likely to botch a landing, than any other

from a manual, with the aid of an instructor

segment of helicopter flying, especially on

to show us the how-to; their careful hands

unprepared sites. So, let’s look at some of

helicopter pilots, wherever possible. After

close to the controls in case we mess up.

the factors that we helicopter pilots need to

all, they are generally much safer spaces,

But what happens when we’re on our own?

be aware of when we find ourselves ready to

designed for landing aircraft of all types,

This part applies to the veteran helicopter

land off-airport.

32 May/June 2020 | www.saflyer.com

A discrete private landing zone at a bush camp.

Confined landings sometimes make the perfect backdrop.

Firstly, let’s consider the legality of a landing. I remember when

legal doesn’t mean that it’s safe. A legal landing may be made with

I was busy with my solo consolidation during flight training on the

a safe touch down, only to have an accident happen on the ground.

Robinson R22. This is the time when the instructor sends you away

The main rotor on most helicopters is tall enough not to be a danger

from the nest to a familiar training ground to finish up your initial solo

to people but the tail rotor when spinning is almost invisible and

flight time … uhhm … completely solo. I was practicing some or

easy to walk into. I have had a close call before with a passenger

other exercise and ended up landing a few times at the training area

disembarking the helicopter and walking around the back of the

beyond the airport perimeter. All went well, completely uneventfully,

aircraft without thinking. Now, even with seasoned passengers, I still

until I landed back at the airport and told my instructor, Mamba, that

warn them not to venture towards the tail. On another occasion, after

I’d landed a few times during the exercises.

landing on a pad, an inquisitive guard almost wandered into the tail

“You did what?!?” he bellowed.

of the helicopter. What I’m trying to say is, that consideration of the

“But the chopper can land there easily and no one’s around, so

surroundings during start-up, as well as security of the landing zone

no risk? Right?” I retorted.

Wrong.

After the ordeal in the chief instructor’s office, where he explained in no uncertain terms the error of my ways, I didn’t do that again!

is critical, especially in open, public areas.

Ideally, a trained ground team is necessary to ensure a sterile perimeter during start-up and takeoff. However, as this isn’t always possible, I have frequently made use of passengers as a second

Legally, there are two categories of landings for rotary craft:

pair of eyes. A simple briefing can train a passenger to look out for

prepared landing areas and unprepared or confined landing areas.

potential risks and help to watch the tail during a difficult confined

Prepared landing areas include all airports – national, international

landing. You can even get them to jump out quickly upon touch-

and private – heliports and helistops. The right to land on these

down to secure the area. You will likely thank them with your, or a

premises depends on licensing for public or municipal ports, and

bystander’s, life one day.

permissions when private. Most airports and heliports also have their own regulations and procedures you need to familiarise yourself with before operating there.

After the legal and safety considerations, you need to ask the question, “Why do I want to land at this particular place?”

This question is one that I often end up justifying to myself

The layman may mistake some marked landing pads for legal

because it’s just cool to land in an inaccessible place. But in some

landing areas, but the law actually determines unlicensed pads to

cases, operationally, it becomes necessary. Whatever the case,

be “confined landings” and considers them in the same light as any off-airport landing. Permission is needed to land in these off-airport

No runway needed.

areas. If the land is agricultural- or industrial-zoned, then landowner permission will suffice. If the landing zone is in a built up or residential area, then in addition to the landowner’s permission, application to the SACAA (South African Civil Aviation Authority) and local constabulary is to be made as well. Roof-top landings in South Africa are only allowed for CAT-A helicopters: those twin-engine helicopters able to continue flight with one engine inoperative.

What am I on about with this really boring part of the column?

Well, the law has bearing on liability, meaning that if there was an incident or accident during an off-airport landing or takeoff, the pilot in command might be liable for the losses. When operating any aircraft, it is crucial to check all documentation in the aircraft flight file, including the insurance policy. Insurers stipulate who may fly the helicopter according to their license privileges or experience and under what operational circumstances they are allowed to fly it, including permissible landing areas.

Secondly, it’s important to realise that just because a landing is

33 www.saflyer.com | May/June 2020

Landing a helicopter, is it legal- is it safe.

always have a plan A. And an escape plan

rotors. The ensuing carnage is terrifying. The

B. Performance, or available power, is one

truck is peeled open like a tin can, spewing

important factor to consider. Aircraft loading,

its cargo across the road. The rotors rip

ambient temperature and altitude all play

the main gearbox from its mountings and

important roles too in determining whether

hurl debris, including rotor shards, in every

or not the helicopter will be able to land and

direction. Thankfully it seems that no lives

take off again from a specific LZ. There

were lost – the only losses being the truck,

are few things as embarrassing as having

the helicopter and perhaps a job or two.

to leave a passenger behind because your homework wasn’t done.

It would be easy for us to look at the video and rattle off a couple of one-liners

Just because a landing is legal doesn’t mean that it’s safe As social media has gained traction in

like, “Stupid pilot, should have known better,”

our lives, more and more amateur videos

or, “Could the crew not have thought to

of disconcerting helicopter mistakes have

cordon off the intersection? Or have chosen

surfaced. One recent video showed an

a better landing zone?”

Airbus Squirrel landing in the middle of a

Easy for us, not being there, and not

busy intersection in Rio Branco, Brazil. In the

knowing the context, right? Sure, but we

video we see the helicopter standing post-

never know when a similar situation could

landing with the rotors spinning, seemingly

spiral out of control for us. Like a few years

waiting for a crew member to board again.

ago, when I made a confined landing with

During the uncertainty of the moment, and

a Squirrel in an industrial property. I landed

owing to the intersection being very busy, a

safely and shut down the aircraft, only to

light delivery truck drives around the corner

have a truck almost drive into the stationary

and straight into the helicopter’s whirling

main rotor. I was fortunate – it could so easily

34 May/June 2020 | www.saflyer.com

have been an expensive blunder.

Flying solo without a crewman can also be a hazard. An incident comes to mind from a few years ago, where I was regularly flying a Squirrel for a local mine.

I had a crewman with me most of the time, except at the beginning and end of the day, when I would fly alone to and from my accommodation some miles away. On this particular flight, I had left the crewman at the mine and positioned back to my new digs on a different farm to normal. I checked the landing area (confined on top of a small hill with a smattering of small shrubs and trees) carefully from above. Being late in the afternoon, and satisfied with the LZ, I decided to put the bird down before the sun got too low. In dusty environments, which this was, we employ a different landing technique to normal: more positive touch down than gentle. This reduces the risk of a brown-out due to the downwash blowing up a haze of dust. The landing went well, and I shut the helicopter down. As I climbed out, I saw that I had landed with the tail of the helicopter about a foot from a large boulder.

Close call and lesson learned: Don’t rush when it’s late and you’re tired.

If you are a regular reader of my column you will know that I often use that term “lesson learned”. Knowledge and experience are wonderful levellers. We should never forget to keep brushing up on theory as well as learning from both our and others’ experiences and mistakes. Unprepared landings will always present new challenges because they are all so different to each other. So, plan well and may you have many more off-airport safe landings.

j

A SLIM LOGBOOK JOHAN WALDEN

Nailing a

STAR

During our coffee and biscuit sessions Owen passes on loads of cool flying tips and tricks – also a few

pearls of wisdom. We wanted to give some of these a bash in the real world and even though this was Cape Town – a synonym for crappy weather, we didn’t

really mind. Because we had the next best thing.

wing versus low wing aeroplane – we’re still arm-wrestling over that one. Time and weather had dashed numerous plans to go flying together, but luckily, my flight school at Morningstar has a new flight simulator which was awaiting certification – so it was temporarily free to use. You couldn’t log hours, but it was perfect for a little practice.

We decided to take advantage of this ‘free sim’ phenomenon and ‘go flying’.

Owen claimed to know the route to Lanseria so well he could practically enter the waypoints without looking. So, what better exercise, we thought, than to re-create his ‘story’ flight and do a full cross-country on instruments, navigating the IF (Instrument Flight) way and doing a full STAR (Standard Terminal Arrival Route) approach?

So, with bad weather, a flask of coffee and a simulator we set off in search of our fix – I didn’t want Owen spitting bits of food all over the new simulator, so unfortunately the ‘boerie rolls’ were a no-go.

T

The Sim didn't have a Bonnie but the C182 RG got a grumpy nod of approval.

We arrived at Morningstar Airfield with plenty of time for an 08h30 Zulu departure from Stellies. The school’s new Redbird has

three

big

screens

displaying

the

HE mag had a Hangar

us today, GPS, rather than the traditional

instrument panel and view outside, with

Tales story by ‘SaraLima’

methods of the ‘fair weather pilot’ to pick his

physical buttons and knobs overlaying the

in the September 2018

way through the vastness. After entering all

instruments and avionics. We had one yoke

issue. If you’re a loyal

the waypoints into the GPS and taking off,

to fight over and all the controls of a complex

reader and have kept a

all he had to do was flip on the autopilot and

aircraft, including retracts, pitch and mixture

stash of them from which

monitor while it flew them all the way up to

controls.

you can dig it out, even better. In Snores,

Jo’burg with precision and ease – giving

The ‘sim’ didn’t have a Bonnie, so we

Drool & Coffee, Owen (aka ‘SaraLima’),

them the freedom to snore, drink coffee and

settled on the next best thing, a Cessna 182

recalls a flight he did with his good friend

spit boerie rolls.

RG. Owen went on for a while about how

Mike in their F33 Bonanza. Packing only

Owen and I have known each other for a

the Bonnie is a far sleeker aircraft than the

‘boerie rolls’ and a flask of coffee, they set

few years and are good friends. We regularly

Cessna with its built-in headwind, but with

off on the four-and-a-half-hour trek from

end up in deep aviation discussions about

pitch, mixture, retracts and all the avionics

Stellenbosch to Lanseria.

anything from how the hump on a B747

we needed, the sim-Cessna finally got his

Owen had the first leg. As a pilot

aids its speed, to why an engine fails if

grumpy nod of approval.

who’d previously flown heavies he’d used

the primer comes unlocked, to how and

I’d done my planning the night before

a technology which is readily available to

why power changes affect pitch on a high

and it was on my kneeboard. The first leg

36 May/June 2020 | www.saflyer.com

COLUMNS was from FASH to NOKOX – the first GPS waypoint, about twenty

autopilot was still flying the plane smoothly on course – no bumps, no

miles north east of Ceres. The next point was the Sutherland VOR

bangs and an easy ATC posrep call.

beacon (SLV). Being a radio beacon, there were two ways of getting

After another two hours of simply monitoring the autopilot as it

to SLV, tuning in the VOR or simply entering the co-ordinates into the

played dot-to-dot along the magenta lines, we hit the pause button

GPS – we chose the latter as that was the whole point of the exercise.

for coffee – next door. While Owen poured the coffee, he explained

After one further waypoint the route kinked towards Petrusville

that the next part of the flight, the approach, is what really sets the

VOR (PVV) giving us a corridor

comm pilots apart. As a PPL you

to slip in-between Kimberly and

take passengers who know and

Bloemfontein TMA’s on our way to

trust you but as a comm pilot you’ll

Grasmere and Lanseria.

have strangers as pax. They trust

The STAR for Runway 07

you completely because it’s your

showed a course and vertical

job – and they pay you for it. So

profile to follow which included

as a professional they expect that

points where you had to be at

you will fly with precision: Precision

specific altitudes (such as the

flying, he explained, is being able

Final Approach Fix, or ‘FAF’) and

to arrive at a point in space exactly

maintain specific descent rates

at the right altitude, at the right time

and speeds. Although I hadn’t

and on the right heading and rate

yet been formally trained in how to fly a STAR we decided to do it

The GPS played dot-to-dot all the way to Lanseria.

anyway and get some of the basics

of climb or descent. A collection of those points is what makes up a STAR.

in place.

We finished coffee and headed

I fired up the Redbird and

back to the simulator to go do it.

entered the pre-sets like wind and

The Earth crept round some

location for our flight. The first task

more and finally we were at ‘top

was to enter our waypoints into the

of D’. We ‘called Lanseria’ at

GPS so it had our flight plan and

the Grasmere beacon and set

could tell the autopilot where to

course to intercept the 246 radial

aim the nose. Unlike Owen, I was

from Lanseria. A few minutes

unfamiliar with the Garmin so this

later we turned onto 246 and

proved a fiddly undertaking. But

A free Sim is a rare phenomenon.

once all the points were in and a magenta line popped up on the moving map, we were in business.

held straight and level for a while before intercepting the glide slope.

According to the table in the

Simulating a full instrument approach.

approach procedures, at 80 knots

The virtual oil was warm and the

I would have to maintain a descent

runway clear so after completing

rate of 413 feet per minute – that

our takeoff checks we departed

would give us a 3 degree descent

Runway 01 and turned onto our

angle to the runway. Ignoring the

first heading out of Stellenbosch.

last 13 feet I set the autopilot up for

While

instrument

400 fpm and watched it follow the

scan going, I pulled the throttle

magenta line in. Owen, simulating

back to 25 Hg manifold pressure

ATC, told me to report when at

and wound the revs down to 2500

Final Approach Fix – I looked at the

RPM – ‘25 squared – our fast climb

descent profile diagram and saw

setting. Then with the aircraft flying

the point: 6700 ft and 6.9 nm out.

keeping

my

on the trim and heading, Owen

The distance to go, ground

showed me how to set up the autopilot. We selected ‘NAV’ and also

speed and descent rate all coalesced to nail the FAF. I called FAF

set a rate of climb that would give us a decent airspeed. With the

and Owen cleared me direct to ‘zero seven’. With the autopilot now

display showing all the right numbers, as in his earlier story, we were

out of the loop I hand flew the last bit and ended up a bit high on the

promoted from labour to management.

approach – this resulted in a ‘bouncer’ which made me cringe.

A while later we were at our FL090 cruising level, so like good

Welcome to Lanseria!

managers, we optimised the knobs for the cruise ahead. The engine

I’d successfully simulated a full cross-country flight just the way

was running at ‘21 squared’, the mixture fractionally rich of peak and

he did it and navigated the same waypoints. I’d also learned how to

the plane trimmed ‘onto the step’. NOKOX came into view on the

properly use an autopilot in the cockpit flow and had my first shot at a

moving map and as the little pixelated aeroplane crossed over the

full instrument approach.

waypoint all the displayed values such as track, distance and ETA switched to SLV. The GPS now showed the SLV to EGTIL leg and the

Now all I need is for the Cape Town weather to stop being… well… ‘Cape Towny’.

j

37 www.saflyer.com | May/June 2020

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REGISTER REVIEW: RAY WATTS

MARCH 2020

THIS REGISTER REVIEW COVERS MARCH ONLY AS WE HAVE NOT BEEN ABLE TO UPDATE THE REGISTER REVIEW FOR APRIL.

ZS-SDC SAA A350-900 taken by Ray Watts.

three of their A340s returned to their lessor and they have been flown to San Bernadino near Los Angeles for parting out. I am told that most were landed in San Bernadino without a single snag left open!

Kudos to SAA technical.

Five of the A330-200s have (at time of updating this report on 20 May) also been returned to the lessor. All seven of the A319s are leased as are all ten of the A320s – no doubt some of these will also

M

be returned as SAA is only operating the Johannesburg to Cape ARCH was a very difficult month to write about due to the nationwide Covid-19 lock down. The department in the SACAA, from whom I get the monthly amendments are closed and therefore I haven’t received any details.

I did ask, just before the shut down, but was told that they didn’t have details ready.

Looking at the first two months of this year we can see that the register is quite active with a total of one hundred and four additions and deletions. There were eighteen fixed wing TCA aircraft, two TCA helicopters, ten NTCA aircraft and fifty-two drones added. Eighteen TCA aircraft were deleted, most of which were exported, with three being scrapped. Two NTCA aircraft were exported and two drones were scrapped.

This Covid-19 pandemic is going to have a major effect on airlines all over the world and I am told that once this is over, we will see a totally different airline industry to the one we’re used to. I expect quite a few of the smaller airlines may close, leaving only the big boys on

Town route internally and a few regional services. The four A350s that were added to the fleet recently are expected to be retained, as will most of the A330-300s. However, we await the Business Recue plan due on 31 May for further confirmation.

SA Airlink are planning to phase out all their ERJ 135/145s over the next five years and the BAE J41s should be gone from their fleet by the end of July this year. This will leave them with only the EMB170 & 190 jets and the Cessna 208B Caravans that operate the game lodge flights.

Comair/BA are still continuing with their fleet – although I am not sure about the other B737-8 Maxes that they have on order – time will tell.

When airlines return to the air, we expect Mango to continue to operate their fleet of fourteen B737-800s. They have taken over SAA’s internal routes and look as though they will be continuing to ZS-YBR SA Express Airways DHC-8 taken by Ray Watts.

the playground. I hope this doesn’t happen, but we will have to wait and see.

On the local airline scene, I don’t expect SA Express will be around for much longer as the Business Rescue Practitioners have asked for the company to be liquidated. Should this happen, then their fleet of nine Canadair CL600 and ten De Havilland Canada DHC-8s, do so. I hear FlySafair are planning to phase out their B737-400s and ZS-SJR FlySafair B737-800 taken by Ray Watts.

become a B737-800 only fleet.

TAIL PIECE I just realised that I have been writing these register reviews for the past nine years – I started typing them for Dave Becker in 2007 (he hated typing) and took over from him when he passed away in

j

2011. It has been my pleasure to do this.

will no doubt be due for return to the lessors, although a number of these aircraft haven’t been flown for quite some time and may well be scrapped. I feel sorry for the honest staff who worked so hard to keep this once flourishing airline going, only to have their livelihoods taken away by bad management, cronyism and corruption.

South African Airways is also struggling to keep going and their fleet of forty-one aircraft will be thinned out drastically. All the A340s owned by SAA have been put up for sale. We have already seen

40 May/June 2020 | www.saflyer.com

ZS-ZWB Kulula B737-800 taken by Ray Watts.

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REGISTER REVIEW - JAN/FEB 2020 Reg Manufacturer ZS- New Registrations

Type Name

Serial No

Previous Identity

Owner

ZS-AGS

CESSNA AIRCRAFT COMPANY

208B

208B5548

N703HD

GRANDEX 5275 AVIATION (PTY) LTD

ZS-BAS

CESSNA AIRCRAFT COMPANY

208B

208B5565

N996MM

VAN DER WATERING HOLDINGS (PTY) LTD

ZS-CHP

DE-HAVILLAND

DHC-1 CHIPMUNK

C1-0688

5N-AAG, VR-NBK, WP796

COOK E R

ZS-CPX

CESSNA AIRCRAFT COMPANY

425

425-0071

V5-WAR, ZS-OPX, N6845R

CARLMAC STEEL (PTY) LTD

ZS-FFL

CESSNA AIRCRAFT COMPANY

T210H

T210-0347

7Q-NYS, ZS-FFL, A2-FFL, V5-FFL, ZS-FFL, N6947R

VENTER A

ZS-FGC

BOEING AIRCRAFT COMPANY

737-800

34242

2-FGCA, A40-BJ

SAFAIR OPERATIONS LIMITED

ZS-FMM

AIR TRACTOR INC

AT-402B

402B-1412

ZS-KRK

QUEST AIRCRAFT CO

KODIAK 100

100-0085

A2-SRM, N85KQ

MESIGLO (PTY) LTD

ZS-LUV

CIRRUS DESIGN

SR22

4828

N482DD

NORTHLANDS CHARTERS CC

ZS-MTA

CESSNA AIRCRAFT COMPANY

210M

210-62842

7Q-MTA, ZS-MTA, N6831B

VENTER A

ZS-SSO

DORNIER GMBH

DO228-100

7023

7Q-KWA, ZS-SSO, 3D-DMI, 5N-AUM, 5N-AQX, D-IBLE

VENTER A

ZS-TJP

PIPER AIRCRAFT

PA-28-140

28-23004

N9566W

43 AIR SCHOOL (PTY) LTD

ZS-TJR

CESSNA AIRCRAFT COMPANY

208B

208B2125

N825CM, YV2484

TOPAZ SKY TRADING 256 (PTY) LTD

ZS-TJT

PIPER AIRCRAFT

PA-28-140

28-7125003

N1686T

43 AIR SCHOOL (PTY) LTD

ZS-TJU

PIPISTREL D.O.O

VIRUS SW 121

VSW1210051

ZS-TJV

PIPISTREL D.O.O

VIRUS SW 121

VSW1210050

ZS-TTD

CIRRUS DESIGN CORPORATION

SR22

4850

N485SA

CDC AVIATION (PTY) LTD

ZS-ZBJ

BEECHCRAFT

1900D

UE-428

C-GMRN, OB-2157, VH-OYV, ZK-EAE, N3188L

ABSOLUTE FREIGHT SERVICE (PTY) LTD

JOHNIE SMITH LUGBESPUITING CC

43 AIR SCHOOL (PTY) LTD 43 AIR SCHOOL (PTY) LTD

ZTR - New Registrations ZT-REW

BELL HELICOPTER TEXTRON

505

65291

C-GIRG

NATIONAL AIRWAYS CORPORATION (PTY) LTD

ZT-REY

EUROCOPTER

AS 350 B3

3587

G-EKRN, G-ORKI, EC-IHX, F-WQRN, F-WQDM

SAVANNAH HELICOPTERS (PTY) LTD

ZU- New Registrations ZU-IPZ

ZLIN AVIATION S.R.O

SAVAGE CLASSIC

246

FLYING FRONTIERS (PTY) LTD

ZU-IRA

KEVERN MICHAEL BROWN

RV-8

83275

BROWN K M

ZU-IRB

P & M AVIATION

QUICK

8634

PATTINSON B A

ZU-IRC

ANNA CECILIA FRANICA LOUBSER

EXPLORER MK II

148-12-09

LOUBSER A C F

ZU-IRD

AEROPRAKT LTD

A-32

074

SUTTON A J

ZU-IRE

CHRISTIAAN VAN ZYL

WHISPER X350 GEN II

WA 19077

VAN ZYL C

ZU-IRF

SAVANNAH AFRICA

SAVANNAH S

19-04-54-0672

AFRICAN PARKS NETWORKS NPC

ZU-ROM

ALBERTUS FRANCIOS DUVENHAGE

ENVIROCOPTER EV4

006

DUVENHAGE J A

ZU-ROP

HENDRIK ADRIAAN ROETS

ENVIROCOPTER EV4

007

ROETS H A

ZU-SFT

THE AIRPLANE FACTORY (PTY) LTD

SLING 4 TSI

168S

SUPERFACTA TRADING 209 (PTY) LTD

ZT- RPAS - New Registrations ZT-WIG

UDS

KESTREL

K0020

UAV AND DRONE SOLUTIONS (PTY) LTD

ZT-WIH

DJI

PHANTOM 4 RTK

0V2DGC9RA30112

DC GEOMATICS (PTY) LTD

ZT-WII

DJI

MAVIC ENTERPRISE DUAL

298DGRE001S6Z2

KORTEC (PTY) LTD

ZT-WIJ

DJI

INSPIRE 2

EA161412559786

ROBOT AIR (PTY) LTD

ZT-WIK

SENSEFLY

EBEE X

IX-12-60947

ROCKETMINE (PTY) LTD

ZT-WIL

DJI

AGRAS T16

1VVDGAU001TB48

DC GEMATICS (PTY) LTD

ZT-WIM

SENSEFLY

EBEE

EBEE01

UAV AND DRONE SOLUTIONS (PTY) LTD

ZT-WIN

SMARTPLANES

FREYA

FREYA066

PREMIER MAPPING CC

ZT-WIO

DJI

PHANTOM 4 PRO

0AXDEBJ0051934

PREMIER AVIATION CC

ZT-WIP

DJI

AGRAS T16

1VVDGAU001S776

DC GEMATICS (PTY) LTD

ZT-WIR

DJI

MATRICE 200

0FZDF840P30056

WESTERN CAPE GOVERNMENT HEALTH

ZT-WIS

DJI

M1X

CCAH17LP3200T2

DIRECTION SURVEY AND MAPPING (PTY) LTD

ZT-WIT

DJI

MAVIC 2 ZOOM

0M6CGC3R0A0ZG6

SALARIA (PTY) LTD

ZT-WIU

DJI

PHANTOM 3 PROFESSIONAL

P76DDJ20BR1648

JET LINK AVIATION (PTY) LTD

ZT-WIV

DJI

MATRICE 600

M80DFK13030148

DC GEMATICS (PTY) LTD

ZT-WIW

DJI

MATRICE 100

252DFA4001001T

PREMIER AVIATION CC

ZT-WIX

DJI

MATRICE 600 PRO

M80DG5F003QMP9

PREMIER AVIATION CC

ZT-WIY

DJI

PHANTOM 4 PRO

11UCF760A50392

PREMIER AVIATION CC

ZT-WIZ

QUANTUM SYTEMS

TRON

B027

SOUTH AFRICAN NATIONAL BLOOD SERVICES

ZT-WJA

QUANTUM SYTEMS

TRON

B028

SOUTH AFRICAN NATIONAL BLOOD SERVICES

ZT-WJB

UDS

BATHAWK

B0031

UAV AND DRONE SOLUTIONS (PTY) LTD

ZT-WJC

DJI

MAVIC 2 ENTERPRISE DUAL

298DG19001X2BG

UAV AERIAL WORKS (PTY) LTD

We perform SANAS certifications on all your:

Acoustics ( eg. CEL 350 ) Vibration ( eg. Rion VA -11) Human Vibration ( eg. Quest Hav Pro) Electrical DC/LF Equipment – inhouse or on site (eg. Fluke Multimeters, Insulation Testers)

Contact: Rashid Snyders Tel: 012 689 2007 I Cell: 076 920 3070 Email: admin@mnacoustics.co.za

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41

M&N Acoustic Services

REGISTER REVIEW - JAN/FEB 2020 Reg Manufacturer ZT- RPAS - New Registrations

Type Name

Serial No

Previous Identity

ZT-WJD

UDS

BATHAWK

B0032

UAV AND DRONE SOLUTIONS (PTY) LTD

ZT-WJE

DJI

PHANTOM 4 PRO

07DDE819FR9148

PREMIER AVIATION CC

ZT-WJG

WINGTRA

WINGTRA ONE

1310

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ZT-WJH

UDS

BATHAWK

B0030

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ZT-WJI

UDS

BATHAWK

B0034

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ZT-WTL

SENSEFLY

EBEE X

IX-12-81664

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SENSEFLY

EBEE X

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DJI

MATRICE 600 PRO

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ZT-WTO

DRONE OPS

SCOUT 2

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DJI

AGRAS T16

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PHANTOM 4 PRO

11UCF5G0A30203

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1000070

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ZS - Aircraft Deleted ZS-APR

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182T

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152

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CZECH REPUBLIC

ZS-CMJ

BEECH AIRCRAFT

1900 D

UE-7

MAURITIUS

ZS-EOS

AGUSTA S.P.A

AW139

31502

QATAR

ZS-FOX

DESSAULT

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072

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AS 350 B3

4316

CANADA

ZS-JRC

BOEING

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27143

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PA-28-236

28-81111010

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ZS-LNY

PIPER AIRCRAFT

PA-34-200T

34-7670184

UNITED STATES

ZS-PIC

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152

152-85204

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ZS-SGB

CIRRUS DESIGN

SR22

3183

NAMIBIA

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1900 D

UE-36

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PC-12/47E

1074

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A340-642

626

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1681

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127

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We perform SANAS certifications on all your: Acoustics ( eg. CEL 350 ) Vibration ( eg. Rion VA -11) Human Vibration ( eg. Quest Hav Pro) Electrical DC/LF Equipment – inhouse or on site (eg. Fluke Multimeters, Insulation Testers)

Contact: Rashid Snyders Tel: 012 689 2007 I Cell: 076 920 3070 Email: admin@mnacoustics.co.za

Owner

Nico van Staden Tel: +27 (0) 083 321 0916 E-mail: nico@aerostratus.co.za

Gerhard Mouton Tel: +27 (0) 82 458 3736 E-mail: herenbus@gmail.com

1973 Cherokee 235

2004 Piper Saratoga II TC

1985 Malibu 310P

1974 Cessna 182

1350 Hrs TT, A & E Neat & Clean, King VFR;

2830 Hrs TT s/new; 830 SMOH Avidyne Glass, IFR equipped

Clean; Priced to sell

310 Hrs TT; 1650 SMOH New Garmin Glass Panel, IF New Paint & Interior; R4,600,000.00

2350 Hrs TT, 430 SMOH Cessna & King, neat; R1,100,000 excl VAT

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1980 Bonanza A36TC

1966 Cherokee 180

2008 Piper Seneca V

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1977 Cessna 210

1981 King Air 200

1979 Cessna T210

1979 Cessna 182RG

4480 Hrs TT, 1040 Hrs SMOH King & Cessna Avionics, very Clean;

9540 Hrs TT; 225 hrs SMOH Garmin & Collins, Neat

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1967 Baron 56 TC

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1984 Piper Malibu 310P

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1988 Waco YMF

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43 www.saflyer.com | May/June 2020

SA Flyer 2020|03

R650,000 excl VAT

HAULING HEAVY, COVID-19

A cross section of an Airbus A330 showing the belly cargo with two ULD bins.

As the aviation industry is battered by the spread of Covid-19 across the globe, most airlines have grounded their fleets. What of the people who work for these airlines?

M

ANY airline employees

and over 80,000 flowers are transported .

at this time: hugs and kisses (which is a

have sought refuge in

During the Covid-19 pandemic, the cargo

standard form of greeting in many European

their homes, hoping that

airlines are fulfilling a vital role in the supply

countries) and handshakes are no longer

the industry will return

chain, particularly because of the huge

acceptable, a minimum distance of 1.5

to what it was before

decrease in cargo hauling capacity caused

metres from others is strongly encouraged

and that they will be able to return to their

by the grounding of passenger flights, and

and regular and thorough hand washing with

current jobs once the crisis has subsided.

thus the loss of the ‘belly cargo’ capacity in

detergent soap is essential. Oh - and don’t

However, many thousands of others have

passenger airliners’ below deck holds.

spend time socialising in the crew room.

already had to come to terms with the news

Special provisions have had to be

What about distant outstations? Cargo

that unemployment awaits them on the other

made by airport operators and air traffic

pilots are happy to be called ‘fly by night’

side of this pandemic.

management to enable the economic life

operators and are familiar with late night

No one knows what the future of the

blood of cargo flights to not just continue –

slots and layovers away from their home

aviation industry is. While we wait around

but to increase operations to make up for the

base. But under Covid-19 this has become

in anticipation, there is, however, one group

lack of belly cargo capacity. To find out how

a whole lot tougher. “We are now being

of pilots whose job security is unaffected

cargo operators are ramping up capacity in

quarantined in our hotel rooms on layovers,”

by the travel bans and lockdowns, and they

quarantined countries, I chatted to Emilie

said Emilie. This is not only for the safety of

continue flying despite the risks; the cargo

- a 21 year old female B737 cargo pilot in

the crew, but because some countries do

pilots.

Europe.

not allow people to wander around the city.

According

Air

Emilie says that special measures have

“Many countries have closed their hotels so

airlines

been put in place to reduce the risk of crew

we can’t layover, and some countries, like

transport over 52 million tons of cargo

contracting and spreading the virus. For

Italy, are already too dangerous, so we now

each year. To put this into perspective, in

example, crew must carry thermometers

fly the planned revenue route and then the

a 24-hour period: 100,000 aircraft takeoff

and masks on almost all flights, and hand

airlines have to carry the expense of a dead

carrying 140,000 tons of cargo, further 6,849

sanitizer has been issued to every pilot.

leg as we fly ourselves in an empty aircraft

lives are saved due to vaccines having been

There are new guidelines in place, similar to

back to our home base,” explained Emilie.

delivered, 20 million parcels are loaded –

those recommended to the entire population

Transport

to

the

Association

International (IATA),

44 May/June 2020 | www.saflyer.com

Fortunately, given the vast reduction

DASSIE PERSAUD-VAN DER WESTHUIZEN

of flights in European airspace from the

for airlines during lockdowns, many airlines

unlikely that the same numbers of people will

Covid-19 lockdown, getting departure and

that

and

be able to afford the luxury of visiting friends

landing slots for these return flights has not

passenger flights have decided to shift their

and relatives (VFR) and holiday travel after

been difficult.

focus solely to cargo. However, it may take a

the lockdown ends.

Since the number of people infected with Covid-19 is still increasing exponentially, I asked Emilie whether cargo airlines were

usually

operate

both

cargo

year to convert a passenger aircraft into one dedicated entirely for cargo operations.

The

conversion

of

a

Worse,

it

is

expected

that

social

distancing and intermittent lockdowns will

passenger

be part of our reality in the future, at least

having to carry much more, transporting

aircraft to a pure freighter requires a wide

until a vaccine or cure to Covid-19 has been

medical supplies. “We don’t really know

cargo loading door to be inserted into the

developed, tested and brought to market.

exactly what we carry, but I have the

structure. The door must be wide enough

How this will affect the aviation industry is

impression we are carrying quite a lot more

to accept the universal aircraft bins called

still unknown. The only thing certain is that

cargo than we did before,” she said.

Unit Load Devices (ULD). Special rails

aviation will be forever changed by Covid-19.

A bit of further research confirmed my

to load the ULDs have to be installed, the

While we wait for a vaccine and for herd

suspicion. IATA’s website and news releases

seats removed and many of the passenger

immunity to build to safe levels, let’s show

remind us that the airlines are essential for

features of the interior such as the toilet and

our support for those brave (and fortunate!)

distributing medicines and medical supplies

galley monuments have to be removed, and

enough to still fly, and let’s do our part by

across the world during the pandemic.

passenger doors and emergency exits must

following all the lockdown rules so we can

Although the amount of scheduled flights

be deactivated.

get back to flying sooner rather than later.

at Emilie’s airline has remained largely the

Because of the time and cost of these

Hopefully we will return to the skies around

same as before the pandemic, she says,

conversions, some airlines are flying only

the world soon, and then, looking back, we

“We are flying a lot more because many of

belly cargo and leaving the cabin empty. The

will be grateful for the weeks we got to spend

our crew are getting sick (well okay - maybe

hopes are that in a few months from now,

at home with our families now.

they are not really sick, perhaps they’re only

passengers will be able to once again travel

[A shorter version of this article was

calling in sick because they are afraid to

and airlines can resume normal operations

originally published on Dassie’s Aviatrix

catch the virus, or maybe they have a sick

using their existing fleet.

West blog.]

family member…) so I have quite a few more flights on my schedule.”

However it would seem that the harsh

j

reality is that due to the profound and lengthy

Seeing as dedicated cargo flights are

consequences of Covid-19 and the expected

one of the only revenue streams remaining

economic recession it will precipitate, it is

Above deck cargo loading into passenger airliners requires special conversions to the passenger compartment.

45 www.saflyer.com | May/June 2020

FOR SALE

• • • • •

ROTOR W AY 162 F A CIS

Total hours: 84 No accident history Authority to fly is current Instruments include: Garmin Aera 550 Full service history by Rotorway SA

R850 000 plus VAT

Contact: Ernst at 083 284 4328

46 May/June 2020 | www.saflyer.com

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47 www.saflyer.com | May/June 2020

ACCIDENT REPORT JIM DAVIS

FLYING EXHAUSTED What are all pilots really scared of? Two mechanical things – a structural failure and an in-flight fire. Yet, many of us have never given much thought to pilot failure caused by the silent killer – carbon monoxide poisoning.

I

T’S time to listen up because

advantage in an aeroplane. Think about it – I

The Express newspaper of 14 March

this is a real and very scary

will keep you guessing and tell you later if

2020 says “The pilot who flew the plane

threat. Don’t think you will smell

you haven’t worked it out by then.

that killed Cardiff striker Emiliano Sala was

it,

because

carbon

monoxide

Okay, let’s look at some specific crashes

not licensed to fly the aircraft. Sala was

(CO) is colourless, odourless

caused by exhaust pipes leaking their deadly

travelling from Nantes to Cardiff after saying

and tasteless. Sure, you might

gasses into the cabin.

his goodbyes following a £15m transfer to

be alerted to it if you smell other

The whole world remembers the football

exhaust gases – but I would not

star, Emiliano Sala, and his pilot, David

bet my life on it.

Ibbotson, who were killed when their Piper

The Air Accidents Investigation Branch

Malibu crashed in the English Channel in

(AAIB) says that Ibbotson was not only

January last year.

unlicensed to fly fare-paying passengers in

There is actually another sense that may

help you, but few of us use that sense to our

46 May/June 2020 | www.saflyer.com

the Premier League club. He had signed for Cardiff just two days before the crash.”

The Ho

the Malibu under those conditions, but his

the CAA is determined to tackle

lack of training will have played a part in the

illegal activities by pursuing those

crash. He was a PPL with no instrument or

involved. It is a practice which

night rating.

must be stopped, and we hope

Ibbotson is said to have lost control

the industry will be supported

while attempting to avoid bad weather, and

in order to prevent this tragedy

according to the report flew too fast and

ever happening again.”

concluded that the plane suffered an inflight break up.

ney well

CO dete

c tor, it

gives b

oth a u ra

l a nd vis

ua l wa rn

Unfortunately, the CAA can never put an end to the

This seems an odd way of putting it –

occasional rogue pilot, but

but it’s true. He got into a classic graveyard

both the CAA and the FAA

spiral with an ever-steepening bank angle,

can certainly tighten up on

an increasingly nose down attitude, rapidly

the sloppy maintenance that

increasing airspeed and serious G loading.

allows exhaust gasses to leak

The report says both Sala and the pilot

into the cabin.

were most likely killed by carbon monoxide

Sadly, this is not an isolated incident.

(CO) poisoning. I am not sure how they

Here are other examples of exhaust failures

a series of irregular descending turns in an

worked that out, as there is nothing to

that I have taken from the NTSB (National

easterly direction. The last radar return was

show that they died before impact. Perhaps

Transport Safety Board) records.

about 0.5 mile from the accident site. Visual

something has been lost in the reporting, but

On December 17, 2000, at 1821 central

CO seems to have been a major contributory

standard time, a Beech BE-23, N2324J,

factor.

impacted hilly, wooded terrain en-route

Board determined that the probable cause

meteorological conditions prevailed.

The

National

Transportation

Safety

Geraint Herbert, investigator in charge,

from Spirit of St. Louis Airport (SUS),

of this accident was, in part, “the pilot’s

said, “Control of the aircraft was lost during

Chesterfield, Missouri, to Tulsa, Oklahoma.

incapacitation due to carbon monoxide and

a manually flown turn and the aircraft

The

a fractured muffler”.

descended rapidly whilst accelerating. The

occupant of the aeroplane, was killed, and

aircraft rolled to the left and there was an

the aeroplane was destroyed.

commercial-rated

pilot,

the

sole

Post-accident aeroplane’s

examination

muffler

revealed

of

the

oxidation

abrupt nose-up control input, at a speed well

Radar data indicate that about 1 hour

that penetrated the wall of the shroud and

above the maximum permitted for such an

after its departure from SUS, the aeroplane’s

extended around at least 20 percent of the

input.”

heading

erratic.

muffler’s circumference. The metallurgical

and

altitude

became

The investigator said the resulting loads

Between 1809 and 1821, the aeroplane

report stated that the oxidized areas of

on the aircraft were “excessive”, which

descended from 8,500 feet mean sea level

the fracture appeared black, which was

caused it to “break-up in flight.”

(msl) to 2,500 feet msl, and its flightpath was

consistent

with

a

pre-existing

fracture

“It was likely that the

that was exposed to the

pilot’s ability to control the

environment for an extended

flight was impaired to some

period.

extent by carbon monoxide

The

poisoning,” he added.

aeroplane

accumulated

This is an odd statement

since

its

2,082

had hours

manufacture

in

because elsewhere in the

1963 and approximately 6

report

it

said

ings.

Sala

hours since its last annual

would have been “deeply

that

inspection in August 2000.

unconscious” at the time of

The maintenance records

the crash based on the levels

showed that the muffler had

of carbon monoxide in his

been replaced on November

bloodstream.

26, 1973, (1,218 flight hours

As they shared the same

before the accident). These

cabin air we can only guess

records also indicate that the

that the pilot’s condition can’t

muffler weld and assembly

have been much different,

had been inspected “for

unless perhaps he saw the

leaks

problem

and

during an annual inspection

was sucking oxygen. We will

on May 21, 1999, (23 flight

probably never know.

hours before the accident)

developing

A statement from the

and

deterioration”

and that they were found to

football club concludes, “We

be “ok”.

are encouraged to read that

A

similar

accident

The sponge disc CO detector - it changes colour but gives no aural warning.

47 www.saflyer.com | May/June 2020

happened on January 17, 1997, when a

accidents or incidents in the past 40 years

noticed fire at the right rudder pedals. He

Piper PA-28-236 crashed near Alton, New

that involved muffler failure in single-

decreased power and started descending

Hampshire, killing the pilot and pilot-rated

engine reciprocating-powered aeroplanes

toward a field. The aeroplane sustained

passenger. About 25 minutes after the

(models include Piper, Cessna, Beech, Aero

substantial damage and the pilot was

aeroplane’s departure from Farmingdale,

Commander, Bellanca, Luscombe, Navion

seriously injured.

New York, the passenger reported to air

and Aeronca), resulting in 42 fatalities and

Post-accident examination of the muffler

traffic control that the pilot was unresponsive.

27 serious injuries. Of the 54 exhaust system

revealed two areas of burn-through damage.

ATC tracked the aeroplane and another

failures that occurred between 1983 and

In addition, a 14-inch-diameter area of

aircraft tried to assist but almost 2 hours after

2002, 25 occurred within 40 hours of the

insulation at the aeroplane’s firewall exhibited

the passenger contacted ATC, the aeroplane

aeroplane’s most recent annual inspection.

indications of severe overheating.

crashed.

The Board also found that the mufflers

Between 1974 and 2001 there were 232

that

involved in these accidents had accumulated

reports of cracked or leaking mufflers on

the probable cause of this accident was

an average of 2,200 hours and that 60

single-engine piston-powered planes. Many

“an exhaust gas leak due to inadequate

percent of the mufflers had accumulated

indicated that visual inspection of the exhaust

maintenance, which resulted in carbon

between 1,000 to 2,000 hours when the

system did not or would not have detected

monoxide poisoning and incapacitation of

accidents occurred.

cracks. For example, an entry on a Cessna

The

Safety

Board

determined

the pilot”.

The Board notes that not all the muffler-

182 stated, “performed pressure test per Cessna Service Bulletin 98-78-02 and found

A crack in the exhaust muffler led to this accident.

a 1-inch crack along edge of weld attaching flange to forward end plates. Cracks cannot be visually seen unless muffler is removed.”

The entry stated that the aeroplane had gone through an annual inspection just 14.7 flight hours before the defect was found.

THE NTSB MADE THE FOLLOWING RECOMMENDATIONS TO THE FAA: 1.

Evaluate the inspection methods that could be used to determine the integrity of the exhaust systems.

2.

Evaluate carbon monoxide detector technology

for

use

in

general

aviation aircraft.

3.

Post-accident

examination

of

Develop specific standards to

the

related accidents and incidents were the

ensure any detection device should

aeroplane revealed a large crack in the

result of pilot incapacitation due to CO

quickly and distinctly alert the user

aeroplane’s muffler that extended around

exposure. Some occurred when muffler

to the presence of carbon monoxide

about two-thirds of the muffler circumference.

failure

The aeroplane had accumulated 1,626 hours

aeroplane systems; for example, the pilot of a

since its manufacture in 1970 and 88 hours

Bellanca 17-30A, executed a forced landing

since its last annual inspection in January

on rough, uneven terrain after he smelled

I have no idea whether the first has been

1996.

smoke and the engine lost power during

implemented, but in South Africa, to my

initial climb near Burlington, Washington.

knowledge there is no requirement for CO

The aeroplane struck a ditch and was

detectors to be fitted to light aircraft.

The Piper PA-28-236 service manual recommends

that

all

aeroplanes

be

fitted with a new muffler at or near 1,000 hours of muffler use and that the muffler,

resulted

in

damage

to

critical

substantially damaged. examination

Require the installation of such devices.

For those who have been waiting for me the

to tell you about the life saving tool that many

heat exchange shroud, and all exhaust

exhaust system revealed that the left exhaust

of us simply fail to use – it’s the lughole, the

connections be rigidly inspected at each

muffler had eroded at the muffler outlet and

human ear, the sense of hearing.

annual or 100-hour inspection.

hot exhaust fumes had damaged the voltage

Although the Piper manual recommends

Post-accident

in the cockpit.

4.

of

regulator, alternator and magneto wires.

If there is an exhaust leak you can nearly always hear it. The engine just doesn’t sound

pressure testing and muffler replacement,

A similar accident occurred on October

right – there is a slight, very brief, hissing

the NTSB notes that there is no requirement

29, 1999, when a Piper PA-22-150 crashed

noise mixed into the normal exhaust sound.

to pressure test single-engine aeroplane

near Newberry, South Carolina. Thirty

It’s actually very easy to hear if you simply

mufflers, nor is a life limit imposed on

minutes into the flight, the pilot noticed

listen and know what you are listening for. At

these components. Further, there is no

smoke entering the cabin. He elected to

43 Air School I heard a leaking exhaust on an

requirement for a detailed inspection of

make an emergency landing at the nearest

aircraft climbing out half a kilometre away –

aeroplane mufflers.

airport.

so sure as hell the pilot should hear it.

The

NTSB’s

database

shows

48 May/June 2020 | www.saflyer.com

125

About 3 miles from the airport, the pilot

This is a hobby horse of mine, but I

will try to keep it short. I beg you to take off your expensive, noisecancelling headphones occasionally and LISTEN to your engine.

Particularly during your engine run-up and during takeoff. And then do it from time to time on A to B flights – say every half hour, or when you change tanks.

Listen carefully and get used to the engine’s normal sounds – that

•

It can cause irreversible brain damage.

•

Damage to your heart, possibly leading to life-threatening

way you will be able to detect the abnormal.

cardiac complications.

•

•

Get yourself a decent electronic CO detector it will only cost around R650. It will give both aural and visual warnings.

•

that they need to strip the system until they find the problem.

•

landing spot and switch off the cabin heat and de-mister,

change colour with time, they are affected by cleaners and

then ventilate the cabin – no matter how cold you feel. On

sprays, they give a false sense of security, but most of all,

my own aircraft I always made sure the heaters were wired

they don’t shout at you when you start to get dozy and most

in the firmly off position so they could not be used. Possibly

CO stays with you for a long time – it will accumulate in your blood for hours or even longer.

•

If you suspect a leak while flying, head for the nearest

Don’t trust those sponge disks. They expire, they slowly

people need shouting at.

•

If you suspect an exhaust leak it most probably won’t be found during routine maintenance – you must tell your AMO

JIM’S TAKE-HOME POINTS:

The effects are similar to alcohol, in that by the time you notice things are not right you probably won’t care.

illegal, and tough on pax in cold weather – but safe.

•

Take off those headsets and LISTEN to your engine.

•

Here’s an excellent video on the subject: https://www. youtube.com/watch?v=MfzfP5CZBj8

j

It can happen to you…

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51 www.saflyer.com | May/June 2020

FEATURE

WORDS: DALE DE KLERK

A NARROW ESCAPE FROM CARBON MONOXIDE

I’m writing this article not to scare anyone, but to warn pilots about the dangers of carbon monoxide poisoning. In my flying career I have heard many claims, including the fact that carbon monoxide is colourless, odourless and tasteless. But I reckoned that if it comes out of the exhaust, I was pretty sure I would smell it. Well, let me tell you about what a wakeup call I had!

Symptoms of CO poisoning.

I

was asked to test fly an aircraft after a total rebuild and engine transplant.

The aircraft was a Vixen Boriann, a two seat light sport aircraft manufactured of tube and fabric and fitted with a Rotax 582 engine - very similar to the Kitfox or Bushbaby.

I did my usual inspection as I do on any

test flight and found a few minor things that I asked the owner to change/repair. One of these were a few small holes in the firewall as a result of the engine transplant. One can expect that there’d be a few differences in the installation of the new engine, perhaps wiring or fuel lines in slightly different places.

In this case, there were several new holes made, and some old ones left open. I asked for these to be closed, as I’d heard of the possibility of this deadly poison seeping into the cockpit through a hole in the firewall.

The mistake I made was not personally

gently lifted the nose and got off the ground; FLIGHT TESTING

then immediately reduced power to fly about

checking that this had been done properly.

During the test phase, I did several high-

half to one metre above the runway. At the

On this engine installation, as in all Rotax

speed taxi runs where I applied full power

halfway mark, I closed the power, set the

engine installations, the exhaust system has

and accelerated to takeoff speed, reduced

Vixen down and came to a stop well before

knuckle joints. This is a type of joint where

power and came to a full stop before the

the end of the runway.

two parts of the exhaust fit into each other

end of the runway. I did this to determine

I repeated this about 10 times, each

and are held firmly in place by three springs

the takeoff point of this particular aircraft

time stretching the airborne distance a

under tension. This avoids cracking in the

and whether I’d be able to land back on the

little further. With each hop, I also tested

exhaust due to vibration, and it works well.

runway in the event of a problem. In this

movement and effectiveness of controls to

The only problem is, there is a possibility that

case, the aircraft attained flying speed in a

ensure a proper level of manoeuvrability

a small amount of exhaust gas could leak at

very short distance – less than 25% of the

during flight.

these joints. It’s not a problem, provided that

runway. After completing about 10 to 15 high

Two small issues needed attention;

this gas doesn’t get into the cockpit. Once

speed taxies, holding the nose wheel off the

one was a brake pulling to one side and the

the gas exits from the engine cowl, it dilutes

ground, but reducing power so that the main

other was that I couldn’t trim to fly neutral.

into the atmosphere just like any other car or

wheels remained on the ground, I was ready

Up to that point, I had clocked over an

aircraft exhaust. But I forgot about those few

for the first hop.

hour of testing and hadn’t noticed anything

small holes in the firewall.

52 May/June 2020 | www.saflyer.com

I took full power, reached rotation speed,

untoward on the engine and exhaust system.

A day or two later, with perfect flying conditions, I resumed testing. One or two high speed taxies, and then a hop, landing before reaching the end of the runway. The brakes were working as I wanted, and I could now also trim the aircraft straight and level.

And she was reacting positively to any and all of my control inputs, I decided it was finally time to do the first flight. I had by now clocked up another hour of hops and had happily put out of mind any ideas of possible exhaust leakage into the cockpit.

I lined up on Runway 26, made decisions as to which points on the runway I could still land, and at which point do I go for the field northwest of the runway.

Up to this point I had no reason to believe that the engine would let me down; but better safe than sorry. It’s standard practice to be aware of all my options before takeoff on every flight.

Happy with all my safety checks, I applied

Exhaust knuckle joints need regular checks for leaks.

full power, accelerated quickly to flying speed and was airborne swiftly climbing at over 1000 ft/min – an ideal climb rate as it gave me more options in case of an engine failure.

touch and go. All seemed okay until I lifted

I remember managing to get the door

I was at circuit altitude before even turning

off again. This time I remember losing sight

open the second that the wheels were on the

crosswind.

of the horizon completely after it went blurry.

ground. It was a relief to breath freely. But I

At this point, I reduced power and

Again, the engine went quiet, but I kept

had developed a massive headache – and I

trimmed for straight and level. At FAKR,

climbing. By downwind, I was very short of

never get headaches. When I got out of the

we operate under Lanseria’s TMA and are

breath. I checked the vent again and decided

aircraft, I asked about the idiot who put up

restricted to 800 ft. agl, otherwise I would

to open the door. The latch is simple, but I

the fence and got some very strange looks –

have climbed higher. I was monitoring temps

couldn’t figure out how to open the door. It

but no replies.

and pressures and control inputs at different

was maybe a good thing as I don’t know what

flap settings. Everything seemed normal and

would have happened, had I got it open.

I don’t remember putting the aircraft away, but I must have as it was safe in the

I decided that it was time for a full stop

hangar the next morning. I do know that I

I had probably been in the air for over

landing. I have no Idea what happened to

spent some time with the regular guys at the

half an hour and had completed at least 4

the other two aircraft but when I spoke to

airfield afterwards but don’t remember much

or 5 circuits before deciding that it was time

them afterwards, they told me that they

of what we spoke about.

for a touch and go. Conditions were perfect:

had joined the circuit with me. They didn’t

Other than the headache, I felt just fine.

hardly any wind, visibility clear and only two

notice anything strange and that I had

Once I got home, I went to bed and fell asleep.

other aircraft in the vicinity. Final checks and

communicated with them on the radio – even

I woke up early the next morning feeling

touchdown – all smooth as could be.

though I had no recollection of making radio

very nauseous and ran to the bathroom and

contact with anyone. Although I knew that

vomited. Once that was over, I felt better.

the plane handled exactly as expected.

Okay, I thought - apply power, check speed and rotate. Then something strange

something was wrong, I had no idea what.

I had a shower, got dressed and went

I had now lined up on short final and was

off to the airfield like every other morning

The horizon blurred and I couldn’t quite

concentrating hard. Here comes the scary

but when I got there I started feeling flu

make out the sound of the engine; but was still

part…. I must have done over 1000 landings

symptoms. I called the doctor and made an

climbing. I don’t remember reducing power

on this runway and I had done two in the past

appointment. To my utter astonishment, he

or turning crosswind and downwind. But I do

half an hour. But now my eyes saw a fence

diagnosed carbon monoxide poisoning!

remember on downwind that it felt like I was

across the runway. It looked so real and so

And that was not the end of it – I spent a

out of breath. I remember putting my hand

high that I almost performed a go around to

miserable week in bed with the worst muscle

over the vent in the door and thinking, “Why

avoid it! In fact, so real was this imaginary

pains ever – something akin to tick bite fever,

is there no air coming through the vent, even

fence that I applied power to get over it, but

even haemorrhaging through the skin on

though it’s open?”

then landed deep on the runway – thankfully,

my legs, which were unbearably painful to

without any problem.

the gentlest touch. During this recovery the

happened….

I continued the circuit and did another

53 www.saflyer.com | May/June 2020

DALE DE KLERK

full impact of the very real and present danger of carbon monoxide poisoning dawned on me. It’s something that is often ignored in the most thorough of pre-flight checks.

Once I had recovered, I went back to inspect the aircraft and found the holes in the firewall that had not been repaired.

I also found evidence of a leak at one of the knuckle joints on the exhaust system.

We closed all the holes and repaired the exhaust. I then purchased a carbon monoxide detector and flew the aircraft for several hours afterwards without any trace or problem.

IN CONCLUSION • During my first inspection of the aircraft, I found things that needed to be corrected. I should have checked these again and again to be 100% sure that what I wanted done was done. You can never be too cautious. As a test pilot or just pilot in command of any aircraft, you have the right to check and question anything and everything.

• The reason for the carbon monoxide not affecting me during the initial high speed taxiies is probably that there wasn’t enough of an accumulation of the gas, or the pressure in the engine compartment hadn’t built up sufficiently to force the gas through the holes in the firewall. Remember, I had never exceeded rotation speed at that point. The higher the speed, the higher the pressure.

• The shortness of breath I haven’t been able to explain – other than the natural instinct of the human body to acquire oxygen.

• The air not coming in through the open-air vent. One of two things could have caused this. Either the pressure of the air/gas mixture being forced through the holes in the firewall was equalising the pressure from outside or my directional control of the aircraft was so bad that flying with the ball out could have neutralised the pressure on the outside of the vent. When I flew the aircraft the next time after doing the necessary repairs, the vent worked perfectly.

• The horizon going blurry, the engine going quiet, the door latch that didn’t work. Either I was semi-consciousness – or I was hallucinating.

• The fence across the runway. This one puzzled me for a long time. The only explanation I can come up with is this: There is in fact a fence about 100 metres before the runway threshold. But due to a very high embankment on which the runway is built, the top of this fence is at least 3 metres below the level of the threshold. I asked several spectators about the fact that I had to climb to clear the fence on short final, but no one could shed any light. Most of them said that it was a lower than normal approach. I can only put it down to hallucination.

Part of my safety pre-flight routine now includes ensuring that my carbon monoxide detector is in the cockpit, especially on any test flights. My strongest recommendation to ALL pilots is to GET ONE and use it, irrespective of how well you know your aircraft and how often you’ve flown it.

j

It’s a small price to pay for averting potential disaster.

54 May/June 2020 | www.saflyer.com

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55 www.saflyer.com | May/June 2020

LETTER TO THE EDITOR FLY-IN DESTINATIONS Thanks for such a great mag. Especially thanks for the free version during Corona Season.

My grandfather came out of the SAAF flying Harvards and for most of his working career as an engineer/GM/Director of a SA Mining Company he had a plane. Interestingly his Cessna C172, ZS-CUX, was bought by my old flying instructor many, many years after my grandfather sold it to upgrade to a Bonanza. My father was also a pilot. He flew gliders at Wits Flying Club for a short while at the start of his engineering career.

I became a pilot at the start of my career due to my fascination with aircraft and their inherent ability to make Southern Africa a much smaller place. Initially I used to fly between Durban-Virginia and Bulawayo, Nelspruit and Durban-Virginia as my major routes for work. When my work contracts in those areas ended I had to find

obscene rates for landing and parking. Make it free, and we promise to eat all your food! Mogas and Avgas is available at a reasonable rate and there is safe parking overnight.

Low Cost Airline rates have made Southern Africa a smaller place, but light aviation can make Southern Africa an interesting place. Sure, all the associated costs with owning and flying an aircraft can certainly make it prohibitive in our current financial conditions. But perhaps there is an opportunity in this within the Global Covid-19 crisis. South African Tourism for South Africans has never looked so attractive. If there is a book or website of great destinations to fly to that give us a reason to fly, please could someone advertise it in SA Flyer.

Carl Meyer

reasons to fly. I kept my hours up flying friends ‘around the patch’, adding different aircraft types to my license to feed my curiosity and flying up and down the coastline to see what there is to see.

I have never owned my own aircraft, thus my flying activity was always dependent on my time availability, good weather and aircraft availability. In Durban, this is a challenge.

I can remember both my father and my grandfather telling me that they both stopped flying and sold their planes, because they couldn’t find reasons to fly and I always found this to be hard to understand, but now I do... My last flight was in 2016.

The weekend before lock-down, I was invited to stay in the Champagne Valley region in the Drakensburg. Two friends, my wife and I packed the car for two nights to explore areas that we had never been to before. We thoroughly enjoyed ourselves exploring craft breweries, excellent restaurants, craft bakeries, craft butcheries, chocolatiers, hiking trails, etc. All the normal stuff you would find in top SA tourist destinations. And all of this was to be found at Dragon’s Peak runway! Which got me thinking; How many other runways in South Africa have attractions that give us reason to fly!? I would have happily avoided the drive of the 1000 speed bumps, taxi and cattle dodging, etc. and taken the opportunity to fly to our destination...had my license been current.

I never missed the opportunity to eat at San Giovanni’s at Wonderboom, their food is amazing. Wonderboom on the other hand doesn’t come across as a particularly recreational/tourist flying conducive destination. Rhino Park used to become quite festive over weekends. How many other places in remote locations with great food and other attractions can we have an excuse to fly to for a day or a weekend that isn’t more than two hours from home? Is there a South African “Meander Map” for aviators? Or a tripadvisor for pilots? What would be ideal is that these places don’t charge

56 May/June 2020 | www.saflyer.com

GUY REPLIES: Hi Carl.

Thank you for your letter and the historical insights. Re your flyin idea: There is a book that covers fly-in destinations – published

by Avi-Map: http://www.avimap.co.za/AVIMAP/pilot_destin_about. htm. Unfortunately it was last updated in 2011.

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59 www.saflyer.com | May/June 2020

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SONACA 200

Pro

It may look like a Sling 2, but the Sonaca 200 is certified to 62 European standards and has many below-the-skin changes.

May/June 2020 | www.saflyer.com

- can a Sling be improved?

FLIGHT TEST - DAVE UNWIN | IMAGES: KEITH WILSON

www.saflyer.com | May/June 2020

63

Great handling shows off additional ventral strakes for longitudinal stability in spins.

Guy Leitch writes: Sling Aircraft have achieved worldwide recognition for the many qualities of the Sling 2 and 4 and TSi. So, it made perfect sense that when Sonaca, the huge Belgian aircraft builder, decided they wanted a certified basic trainer they selected the Sling 2 to develop to European certification standards.

Sonaca’s selection of the Sling 2 was the ultimate stamp of approval for the design produced by Mike Blythe and James Pitman at their small The Airplane Factory south of Joburg. With over 550 orders and 300 Slings flying around the world, the Sling has achieved a success that still surprises Mike and James. Its combination of delightful flying qualities and low operating costs has also made it a favourite of flight schools – something for which it was never designed.

But the inherent quality and strength has proven to be up to the task – with a number of Slings approaching 6000 hours of total time – and in the rough hands of students.

So, did Sonaca really think they would be able to improve the original design? Our European flight tester Dave Unwin finds out:

Wing fences for improved stall and spin behaviour a Sonaca feature.

64 May/June 2020 | www.saflyer.com

Despite the high price tag the prop is fixed pitch.

S

OME mornings are just made

for

flying,

Simple proven construction and strength makes it ideal for grass field training - as long as the student is taught to hold the nose up.

and

as I ease into a very tight echelon port with the

cameraship,

this

morning is clearly one of those!

The day had started with a degree of déjà

vu. I’d met up with photographer Keith on a stunning late spring morning at the lovely grass airfield of Fenland in Lincolnshire, and from a distance the test aircraft looked very much like the TAF Sling we’d flown and photographed from Fenland last year.

In fact, the test aircraft was a Sonaca 200 Trainer Pro, the latest – and loaded – iteration of the popular Belgian two-seater built by the huge industrial consortium of Sonaca Group in Namur, the capital city of Wallonia.

Although it is irrefutable that the Sonaca 200 bears more than a passing resemblance to the Sling 2, up close it soon becomes apparent that the 200 is a very different machine. Whereas the South African Sling is primarily marketed as a kitplane, the 200 is an EASA approved factory built VLA. Consequently the 200 has been extensively redesigned to meet the far more stringent regulations of CS-VLA (Amendment 1). The differences between CS-VLA and CS-VLA (Amendment 1) are beyond the scope of this article, but it’s obvious that a homebuilt aircraft and a factory-built aircraft are not the same thing, even if they may look quite similar.

It is available in two versions, the ‘Trainer’ and the ‘Trainer Pro’. The test aircraft is the latter version, and with its all-

fatigue as well as corrosion-related aspects.”

and carried by a low-maintenance articulated

These alterations have increased the

aluminium-alloy arch on either side of

MAUW (maximum all-up weight) by 50kg

the fuselage. This arrangement prevents

to 750kg with a +4.4 ‘g’ limit load factor,

deformation of the fuselage during a heavy

while other changes include strengthening

landing – always a possibility for a hard-

the canopy arches, undercarriage, vertical

working trainer. All three wheels are closely

and horizontal tail surfaces, installing a

spatted.

different propeller, and redesigning the instrumentation, brakes and fuel system.

The ailerons and elevator are actuated by pushrods with cables for the rudder. Elevator

It certainly looked very smart, while its

trim is manually actuated while the large-

bare metal finish glowing gently in the spring

span slotted flaps are electric. These have

sunshine vaguely reminded me of a mid-

four positions: 0°, 10°, 20° and 30°. Each

1950’s USAF fighter. Starting at the spinner,

wing’s leading edge has dual LED landing/

the three-blade DUC Flash-R prop is spun

taxi lights built in near the tips, with position

by a neatly-cowled 115hp Rotax 914 UL

and strobe lights located below the slightly

turbocharged air/liquid-cooled flat-four.

upswept winglets.

All the fuel is carried in a pair of 73-litre

There are ground adjustable trim tabs on

tanks, one in each wing root’s leading

the port aileron and rudder, while the stepped

edge. The wide track/short wheelbase

static port is interesting. The monocoque

undercarriage

steerable

fuselage is made primarily from aluminium

nosewheel (via the rudder pedals) which

as are the wings, flaps, ailerons, fin, elevator

is suspended from a telescopic strut, and

and rudder, with composites used for the tips,

mainwheels fitted with hydraulic disc brakes

cowling and canopy frame. Overall, it looked

consists

of

a

glass cockpit and fully integrated avionics is intended for the burgeoning airline academy market. Drawing closer I note the dorsal fillet, ventral strakes and large wing fences at approximately mid-span. These aerodynamic tweaks are to enhance spin recovery and improve aileron response near the stall respectively to ensure compliance with CS-VLA (Amendment 1), although most of the differences are actually under the skin.

Sonaca claim that around “80% of the of the initial structure has been redesigned to meet market requirements on the one hand, and EASA certification requirements on the other. The main spars of the wing, the connection to the fuselage and the central spar have been redesigned and some aluminium alloys have been modified to take account of the aerodynamic loads, material

Cockpit is beautifully finished and features Garmin EFIS.

65 www.saflyer.com | May/June 2020

Turbo Rotax 914 has a throttle gate and the trim now has a position indicator.

quite disconcerting for a tyro airline pilot who has just borrowed a six-figure sum from the ‘Bank of Mum & Dad’ to pay for their training, and on their first day they’re introduced to a machine that is – literally – older than their parents!

The test aircraft is a 200 Trainer Pro, and this version in particular is very much aimed at this potentially extremely lucrative market. As I was soon to discover, the avionics are comparable to those fitted to the aircraft students will fly later in their careers, while Sonaca have invested heavily in an advanced support platform which should ensure enhanced after-sales service.

It’s

also very nicely finished, which made the white cable ties securing the hydraulic lines to the main undercarriage arches even more incongruous.

As if to further heighten the sense of déjà vu, Fenland CFI and cameraship pilot Steve Brown then hove into view, wearing his signature ‘socks-and-sandals’ combo.

“That’s a bold fashion statement” I observe irreverently. “Not a lot of people can carry that look off.” Steve smiles mournfully at my ill-mannered comment on his sartorial elegance and – in an obvious slur on my less than svelte figure - suggests to Sonaca’s Pierre van Wetter that he double-check the Fuel selector now has a long extension arm to the actual selector valve and piping which is outside the cockpit.

W&B before we go flying. “Don’t you worry about it” I reply, “I may appear fat, but identify as thin.” Steve raises a quizzical eyebrow.

“I’m trans-slender.”

The impression of a modern machine is

Baggage bay has secure nets - and awkward headset jack points.

reinforced on entering the cockpit. Access to the cockpit is good, although I wasn’t so keen on using the rearward sliding canopy to help pull myself up onto the wide nonslip wing root walkway. Just aft of the trailing edge are sensibly sited streamlined footsteps, but I think possibly some sort of spring-loaded handle just below the canopy rail would be useful as well, as when you pull on the canopy there’s a considerable sideload. Behind the seats is a big baggage bay that can take up to a very impressive 35kg.

The seatbacks tip forward for easy access.

I thought I’d examine the aircraft from an instructor’s perspective and sit on the right.

Settling onto the very comfortable seat I slide it forward (which simultaneously raises it up) and study the controls and instruments with

robust, rugged and ready to work for a living.

modern but also new – and this is important.

considerable interest, as the panel would

There’s a plethora of rivets and the skins

Most airline industry analysts are predicting

shame some older airliners. Unsurprisingly,

seem quite thick, while well-designed quick-

a chronic shortage of pilots over the next ten

its ‘all glass’, as even the standby instrument

access hatches and jacking points are ideal

years, and it could be a boom time for the

(a Honeywell KI 300 which displays airspeed,

for ease of maintenance. It not only looked

burgeoning airline academies. it must be

attitude, altitude and slip/skid) is digital.

66 May/June 2020 | www.saflyer.com

Directly in front of the pilot is a large

the throttle’s position linearly from 0% (idle)

an intermediate stop to allow the aircraft to

Garmin G500TXI MFD. A ‘touchscreen’, it can

to full power. The TCU (Turbocharger Control

be flown with the canopy about a metre open

be split several ways and is quite amazing.

Unit) uses throttle position, ambient pressure,

in-flight. Given its South African design it

If you look at the cockpit picture closely, the

airbox pressure/temperature, and engine

does have excellent air vents; cabin heating

right side of the screen is zoomed right out to

rpm to actuate an electronically controlled

and canopy demist (it’s almost car-like) but I

show the British Isles, while on the left is a

waste gate to regulate boost pressure in

still like to be able to see out if there’s – for

synthetic view of the runway. Incredible.

the engine airbox. The TCU adds boost

example - oil all over the windscreen. Plus,

There’s a neat stack of Garmin avionics

from the 108% throttle position onward. Of

it’s just fun (and also cooler, both literally and

in the centre (GTN650 and GTX335), with a

course, with any turbocharged engine care

metaphorically) to be able to fly around with

very comprehensive JPI EDM 900 engine

must be taken not to exceed boost pressure,

the canopy at least partly open.

monitoring unit on the right. Beneath the

so as well as the MAP display on the EMU

Probably the biggest omission was the

avionics stack is a row of silver toggle

(pressure is shown in both analogue and

lack of stick-mounted electric pitch trim.

switches for the electrical services. Although

digital formats) the row of annunciator lights

Often, I’m against electric trim in small

there’s a colour-coded line below them to link

above the avionics stack includes both ‘TCU

aeroplanes (and to be fair the big wheel

them to the colour-coded circuit breakers,

CAUTION’ and ‘TCU WARN’.

between the seats is nicely geared and

they’re slightly anonymous. I’d prefer the

its

works well) but the tyro airline pilots will soon

actual switches to be colour-coded and

impressive, as practically all my regular

From

an

ergonomic

viewpoint

graduate to types with electric trim so why

preferably rockers, as for any aircraft you

gripes had been addressed. Adjustable seats

not introduce them to the concept from the

climb in and out of rockers are simply less

and four-point harness – check. Different

start?

prone to being damaged by an errant boot.

shapes for the carb heat and choke – check.

I also wondered if the KI 300 standby

Below these switches is the pre-selector

Fuel selector pointing to the selected tank-

EFIS would be better placed to the left of

type flap switch and plungers for the choke

check. Flap limiting speeds placarded next

the PFD, with the starter, mags and Batt/

and carb heat, with the big Andair fuel

to the flap switch – check. Good use of

Alt switches relocated to where the standby

selector in the section that joins the panel to

colour-coding - check. Even the park brake

EFIS was as this would reduce parallax.

the centre console. This extends aft between

was orientated correctly!

Finally, and as much as I like colour-coding,

the seats and carries a large T-handled

However, it wouldn’t be a Dave Unwin

both the trim and flap position indicators are

throttle lever with a big elevator trim wheel to

flight test without some bitching and moaning,

also colour-coded, which seemed a bit OTT

its left and the park brake behind.

so to stop you all thinking Pierre had bribed

to me.

The throttle features a spring-loaded

me with a case of Leffe, here’s some

Having slid the large canopy shut its

catch (like some jet’s afterburner selector),

suggestions: As the choke and carb knobs

locked with the large handle, which engages

which must be raised to push the throttle over

are so close together there should be a guard

the well-designed claw-and-pin mechanism

a detent and up to maximum power. With the

over the choke. You only use it on start-

with the windscreen bow. This doubles as a

throttle at the detent 100hp is produced,

up, but if a student inadvertently selected

roll-over bar.

while full power is 115hp.

choke instead of carb heat on downwind the

One of the dual carburettors carries a throttle arm position sensor which measures

resultant ‘rich cut’ could be awkward.

The 914 started smoothly (in fact, much

As

smoother than the harsh, high-compression

there is no DV panel the canopy should have

912iS I regularly fly behind) and we set off

As proven in an earlier SA Flyer test, the 914 turbo make the Sonaca a good tourer as well as trainer.

67 www.saflyer.com | May/June 2020

behind the camera-Cessna carrying Keith, Sonaca’s Frederique Jacobs and flown by Steve.

air as smooth as glass make this a very pleasurable shoot.

Almost as soon as the wheels left the ground the 200 made a very

Taxiing is easy – there’s a fine field of view over and either side of

positive impression, and when we break away from the cameraship

the nose as the seats are set quite high, the nosewheel steers through

to examine the control and stability, cruise performance, stall

the rudder pedals and differential braking can be used to tighten the

characteristics and everything else on the flight test card it continues

turn.

to impress.

Ambient conditions are slightly above ISA (Fenland is essentially

Stalls power on or off and flaps up and down are all equally

at sea level but the OAT is +18ºC) while the wind is a gentle zephyr

benign, with little to no tendency to drop a wing. Clean and with the

from the east and the grass short and dry. We have about half-fuel, so

throttle at idle, the wing quit at around 50 KIAS while with full flap and

as those 70 litres weigh about 50kgs and we’re about 170 we’re still

some power the lowest indicated speed I saw was 42 KIAS. From the

some 70kgs below the 750 MAUW, and the initial acceleration is good

stability perspective, stick-free, the lateral and longitudinal stability is

on the short, dry grass. Then I remember the detent, raise the catch

positive, and although directionally it felt a bit ‘soft’ that is often the

and push the lever fully forward. There’s a positive push as the turbo

case where the nosewheel is linked to the rudder pedals.

cuts in, suddenly we’ve got an extra 15 horses and the acceleration improves exponentially.

The controls come alive almost immediately and the powerful

As for control, it is very good, with light, crisp ailerons, a nicely balanced elevator and powerful rudder (although in fact only a small amount of rudder is necessary to keep the slip ball centred, as there is little adverse yaw). Essentially, it’s a stable aircraft with good controllability that is very nice to fly.

Cruising back towards Fenland at

3,000ft

and

a

comfortable

5,000rpm gave an IAS of 100kts for a TAS of 106 and a fuel burn of 2627lit/hr. Bump the throttle up to the METO of 5,500 increases the IAS to 112 (12%), but the fuel flow goes up to about 34 litres/hr, or an increase of roughly 25%. Pull the power back to a more relaxed 4,800 and it’ll still produce a TAS of 100 while only burning 23 litres/hr. At this power setting the range is quoted as over 550nm, with a 30-minute reserve.

Pretty impressive.

It was such a lovely day I was reluctant to fly on instruments, but for the sake of completeness did get on the gauges for a few minutes.

Sonaca factory has moved into mass production. Image Sonaca.

The

large

screen,

well-defined

horizon and synthetic vision would make it easy to fly in IMC. Indeed,

rudder makes maintaining the centreline easy. Having used about

the advent of the glass cockpit has made the entire instrument flying

400 metres of the grass runway the Sonaca skips into the sky and

process exponentially easier than it used to be!

climbs away powerfully at about 750ft/min at the Vy of 70kt.

Back in the circuit at Fenland, what wind there was seemed to be

The limiting speed for TO flap is usefully high at 105kts (some

favouring 08, but as we had the place to ourselves and Keith was near

modern aircraft have ridiculously low flap limiting speeds) so there’s

the threshold of 26 I elected to save him a walk and use that runway.

no rush to retract the flaps. As they retract the change in pitch trim

I’d kept the speed up into the circuit and appreciated the faster-than-

is quite subtle. Bring the throttle back past the detent and we set off

normal flap limiting speeds. Even full flap is 85, while ‘Flap 2’ (20º) is

in hot pursuit of the cameraship. Once we’re over the coast the air is

a generous 95. About 60 ‘over the fence’ felt about right. I did try one

super-smooth and with the sunlight sparkling off the waters of The

at 55 and wouldn’t recommend going much slower. For the final ‘touch

Wash I’m very much enjoying myself.

n go’ I deliberately left the flaps down and didn’t use the turbo, and it

Now, as much as I relish the challenge of flying close formation,

still coped okay. Overall, I was very favourably impressed.

to be honest I don’t always enjoy it. Indeed, if the cameraship and

Someone wrote to me recently and questioned how much is

subject aircraft are dissimilar types with very different performance it

possible to discern in a typical one to two-hour flight test. Well, initial

can be quite tricky. Throw in an aircraft with a poor field of view, limited

thoughts are very important, for you never get a second chance to

power (or reduced drag) poor handling and some turbulence and a

make a first impression. Hoary old clichés aside, a SA Flyer flight test

flight tester’s lot is not a happy one. However, today is an absolute

isn’t the same as a report by an Empire Test Pilots School (ETPS)

treat! Plenty of power, crisp controls and a fine field of view, along with

graduate. Firstly, I’m not an ETPS graduate, and secondly such reports

68 May/June 2020 | www.saflyer.com

aren’t very readable! Most readers aren’t all that interested in stick force per g or roll rates per second, and just want to know if an aircraft is heavy in roll or overly light in pitch. Remember, a SA Flyer flight test report is qualitative, not quantitative. Furthermore, initial impressions give me an excellent idea of how quickly an ‘average pilot’ would feel comfortable in any given machine.

I’ve flown some pretty poor handling aircraft over the years, and (just as you do with an older car or motorbike) after a few hours have learnt to compensate for excessively heavy ailerons, an overly light elevator or a poorly geared trimmer. No such compensation is required when flying the 200, it’s extremely well sorted and very nice to fly. And that’s a very important point when you think that its designed to be a trainer. Other significant

SONACA 200 TRAINER PRO €208,500 (ex tax)

advantages that would appeal to a flight school are that it can be used for both basic and advanced training (it can be stalled and spun, or flown down an ILS with equal ease) and of course the engine typically burns around 20 litres of Mogas an hour, making it considerably cheaper to run than many ‘legacy’ trainers.

Of course, it would also make an excellent tourer for the discerning (albeit well-heeled) private owner, so you may be wondering why there wasn’t an autopilot fitted. The answer is simply because during the early stages of flight training the flight schools don’t want their students using an autopilot, and none have specified an autopilot as part of the equipment. However – and particularly when touring, an autopilot can be very useful, and Pierre assured me that an autopilot will be standard equipment on the IFR version currently under development.

What didn’t I like? Well, it is undeniable that the test aircraft is very expensive – in fact it’s the most expensive Rotax-powered two-seater I’ve ever flown – and I’ve flown quite a few! To be fair most (but not all) of those were kitplanes, and this is a factorybuilt EASA VLA, while it is irrefutable that the panel is absolutely loaded (the analogue version is around €31,000 cheaper).

There’s going to be literally tens of thousands of young pilots aspiring to an EASA ATPL over the next twenty years, and they’ll have to train in an EASA-approved aeroplane. Sonaca

DIMENSIONS LENGTH: 6.67m HEIGHT: 2.55m WINGSPAN: 9.24m WING AREA: 11.84m2

WEIGHTS & LOADINGS EMPTY WEIGHT: 460kg MAX AUW: 750kg USEFUL LOAD: 290kg WING LOADING: 59.10kg/m2 POWER LOADING: 8.74kg/kW FUEL CAPACITY: 140 litres BAGGAGE CAPACITY: 35kgs

are pitching the 200 Trainer Pro firmly at that market, and to be honest – if I had just paid around €100,000 for a frozen EASA ATPL I think I’d expect to learn in something like this!

j

A

N excellent question to pose at this juncture would be “would you buy a Sonaca for your Flight school?” Assuming your students intend to obtain an EASA-approved professional licence, they’ll need to train on an aircraft that

EASA has approved for flight training. Furthermore, as well as a

PERFORMANCE VNE (IAS): 135kts CRUISE (TAS)@6000ft: 115kt STALL: 45kt CLIMB RATE: 750ft/min TO to 50ft: 470m Land over 50ft: 475m

CPL, they’ll also need an IR, and preferably exposure to modern integrated avionics. One option is to buy a new C172, DA40 or PA28, while another is to completely refit a Skyhawk or Warrior with modern avionics. The extra two seats do add utility, but also greatly increase insurance premiums, while anything fitted with an AvGas-fuelled engine will cost a lot more to run. Diesel

ENGINE: Rotax 914 turbocharged air/liquid-cooled flat-four, producing 115hp (85.76kW) at 5,800rpm PROPELLER: Duc Flash-R composite three-blade fixed pitch

engines burn much cheaper JET-A1, but a brand-new DA40 is a lot of money, and while refitting a legacy aircraft with a glass cockpit is definitely do-able, do you really want a 30-year old machine representing your company?

MANUFACTURER: Sonaca Group, Namur, Belgium Ph: +32 476 223 401 Email: Pierre.vanwetter@sonaca-aircraft.com Web: www. sonaca-aircraft.com

LEARN TO FLY WITH

043 736 6181 I admin@borderaviation.co.za

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73 www.saflyer.com | May/June 2020

LETTER TO THE EDITOR

W

ITH reference to your Position Report

radar was no longer required and the system was shut down. The

in the February edition and referring to

Mecurius jets did their fly past down Malmesbury road and turned

the accident near Mossel-Bay involving

to overfly the City, during which they evidently saw the fluffy white

the CAA’s Citation, I would like to tell you

clouds in front of Table Mountain. All the pilots were high ranking

of my observations over the years. Most

SAAF officers with thousands of hours of flight time, but all lived in

of which you have probably heard before as “hangar talk” among

Pretoria, where clouds are just soft white fluffy things that are easily

pilots.

flown through. Unfortunately, they forgot that here in the Cape, the

In 1972 when I was a young pilot, some very good friends of

mountains have a very bad habit of hiding in the clouds and they flew

mine were involved in a similar accident. That year the military

in formation into the slopes of Devil’s Peak – with 100% fatalities of

had a big parade that went through Goodwood, up what is now the

the 11 aircrew.

Malmesbury Road. The parade was in the direction from Goodwood

I am sure that the SACAA pilots involved in this latest accident

towards Malmesbury. The idea was that three newly acquired HS-

with a mountain hiding in the clouds was only due to their living in

125 ‘Mercurius’ business jets would fly against the flow of the parade

Gauteng where the clouds are soft woolly things that are easily

and turn over the City. The practice day before the parade was a

flown through and forgot that in the Cape, the clouds sometimes

typical Cape late summer day with fracto-cumulus at 2500 to 3000ft

have hard centres.

of about 8/10 therefore Ysterplaat had the radar operating, to direct aerial traffic.

As the morning wore on, the clouds burnt off and the sky cleared until there was just a low cloud up against Devil’s Peak with a clear Table Mountain in the background. Ysterplaat decided that the

Dr Eugene Marais Aerospace Medicine Specialist

The wreckage of the SAAF Mercurius jets on Devil's Peak.

74 May/June 2020 | www.saflyer.com

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77 www.saflyer.com | May/June 2020

DOC MARK HOLLIDAY

T N O R F M R O T S A

L L E H M FRO One of the inevitabilities of cross-country gliding is landing away from your home field from time to time. This is the equivalent of a forced landing in power flying yet considered normal operations by the gliding community. I have had to land out over ninety times, and in their own way each has been a little adventure.

I have decided to record some of my experiences in the hope that they may both help aspirant pilots, both glider and power pilots, in some of the planning and decision-making processes they face.

78 May/June 2020 | www.saflyer.com

A

few days before

We had a long glide towards the

a gate backing onto a farmhouse. The

the Nationals in

gloom and despite the cold I was sweating

heavens opened as Coutts passed 500 feet

Welkom in 2010,

nervously when we finally connected 2000 ft/

above me to scrape it home in his JS1.

John Coutts did

min lift just above the dust front at a height

to me what I have

that seemed too low, but dwarfed by the

back door of the farmer’s house much to his

been told I allegedly

cloud massif, was in fact about 3000 feet

surprise. The farmer and his wife gave me a

do to others - he led

agl.

towel, a clean set of dry clothes and a cup

me to a place where you could touch Hell.

My flight recorder recorded a 302 km

I was drenched when I knocked on the

of tea while we waited an hour for the storm

The Free State is well known for the

out and return flight to Taung in 59 minutes

to pass. I still wear the shorts that they gave

rapid development of huge storms and long

without turning once. We ran at Vne having

me.

fronts. These storms have a particularly evil

to periodically shift away from the maximum

look about them. The cloud tops are so high

lift in order not to get sucked into cloud. My

readings in rain as increased sink. Rather

that the sky darkens from miles away and

maximum ground speed was recorded as

view the wet wings as those belonging to

as you lose the greenhouse effect of the

394km/h! (OLC Dec 12 2010)

a glider of poorer performance and fly it

cockpit you start to feel cold. The gust front

The storm was moving rapidly towards

Lessons: Don’t interpret the variometer’s

slower. There is almost always rain and

preceding the storm line stretches to the

the airfield and in order to prevent an

sink in the lee of a storm and even if you

horizon and the cloud base is visibly much

outlanding I headed for home from the cloud

can’t see it, expect it to be there and you

lower near the heart of the storm.

base (10,000ft) about 60 km from Welkom.

may make it home. Strong lift doesn’t occur

Although it looked clear, it was raining lightly,

without strong sink somewhere- be wary on

gloom and its static on your radio forebodes

so I increased my speed to offset the extra

stormy days.

danger. The rain under the black cloud is

drag from the wet wing and radioed back to

impenetrable. If you commit to flying towards

John to warn him. He showed his experience

is not only rain that can surprise you: Gavin

the cloud you are either going to connect

by going back, topping up with a bit more

Johnson had a recent forced outlanding,

the lift and have the ride of your life, or land

height.

due to a not so perfect pizza from the night

You see lightning toy-toying in the

out in the turbulence of a macroburst and

Four km from the airfield with wet wings

probably break the glider – just the kind of

I turned final approach onto a track between

odds Coutts likes.

two newly planted fields and rolled up to

Give your career in aviation a great start!

Keep a change of clothes in the glider- it

before, and didn’t meet a friendly farmer with

j

a spare pair of trousers.

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80 May/June 2020 | www.saflyer.com

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SA Flyer 2019|05

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LETTER TO THE EDITOR WONDERBOOM: Preferential procurement and corruption

I

would like to respond to your column in the March 2020 issue concerning the Wonderboom debacle. I share your frustration and maybe I can shed some light on the manner in which the government awards tenders through the CSD (Central Supplier Database) the government procurement system. ( www.secure.csd.gov.za )

I have been doing business with either a government

department, or parastatal, for 7 years and have been grinding my teeth ever since. The level of corruption is epic to say the least.

Coming back to the issue at hand, Wonderboom. As you noted, the municipality spent R600,000 procuring a company to cut the grass on the runway and taxiways as opposed to the R 60,000 quote from a private supplier – as confirmed by WAIG. That is a R 540,000 mark up and I cannot see that such a service can cost as much.

Noted, I do not know if this is a monthly or yearly contract, but logic dictates that something is very wrong here.

In order to receive an order from a government department you have to be registered on the CSD platform as well as being approved as a supplier by the relevant department which includes a host of documents to be submitted: a VAT clearance every 60 days, BEE level status documents and more. In my opinion the CSD system is the biggest evil ever created by the government as it lends itself to legal corruption and shady business dealings by individuals with government contacts.

To receive an order for products or services from the government

to procure a “ back hand “ of R 540,000 (on a R 600,000 order) on lawn mowing services, the officials approving these orders are legally empowered to permit the huge mark-up as they can prove that they did indeed receive the required amount of ‘cover quotes’ to justify the decision, while disregarding the genuine quotes.

What boggles the mind is that the officials approving these orders and tenders must surely be aware that services quoted by CSD suppliers are way out of line. Someone needs to take accountability for approving a service at 10 times the price that can otherwise be procured much cheaper. As an example, a government department and the individuals passing the order should realise the following: If he services his or her personal vehicle at a dealer it may cost around R 3,500, so why approve an order for a service at R 150,00.00?

Surely the official’s responsibility to her employer dictates that they do their homework and evaluate quotes?

My last point of concern would be the following: My company does not qualify to quote on a number of RFQ’s as I am a level 4 BEE contributor while a “previously disadvantaged” individual is automatically approved from day one as a level 1 BEE contributor .

This means that anyone, knowing very little about an industry they are quoting or submitting a tender for, are qualified to do so.

In conclusion, the CSD system opens up a hornet’s nest of corruption opportunities while also making some ‘preferred suppliers’ to CSD very, very rich in a very, very short time! This will not end and the “It is our turn to eat” mentality as you so nicely put it will never end!

Welcome once again to Africa … the land of milk and honey to only a few.

Jean van der Riet

they will send out a RFQ (Request for Quote) to a supplier such as myself . By using my industry as an example I will quote R 45,000 for the overhaul and fitment of a gearbox on a commercial vehicle. Any RFQ’s over the value of R20,000 must have three cover quotes to be approved by the said department. In many cases I have not been awarded an order while the order went to a third party at an inflated price, as much as five times my quote amount. Upon myself lodging a query I was told that my quote was never received, or that my Vat/ Tax clearance was expired.

The fact is that if the government sends out an RFQ to myself, as a supplier, the government has all the power to ignore or to delete any other quotes that it received. There are CSD suppliers registered under as many as twenty different companies quoting on the same tender or RFQ request by the government. So in short , if you want

82 May/June 2020 | www.saflyer.com

Tell us what's on your mind: guy@saflyermag.co.za

83 www.saflyer.com | May/June 2020

84 May/June 2020 | www.saflyer.com

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85 www.saflyer.com | May/June 2020

LETTER TO THE EDITOR DO WE NEED A FLAG CARRIER?

in showing the world that we are not a failed state, we need to show them that corruption does not go unpunished and neither does it lead to further misery amongst the people and within the economy.

South Africa deserves better. South Africa deserves the legacy carrier it once had that flew the rainbow flag. The carrier that was invited year on year to participate at flypasts and airshows around the globe. The carrier that provides the foundation for some of the most advanced pilot training to other carriers in America.

South Africa deserves the carrier that represented who we were as a nation in the Mandela years– and not one that precipitated a disease-ridden corpse of corruption. A R17-billion bailout will soon seem like a drop in the ocean.

I believe that everyone in the country, and specifically in the aviation industry, should be fighting for the survival of our once pristine national airline. The job losses that will occur should SAA fail are far more widespread than the aviation industry alone. The thousands, if not millions of jobs that will be lost in the tourism industry are going to add to the misery of an economy that desperately needs to hold on to foreign income to survive.

I

The pilot body has for many years outlined the solutions of what is needed to get the airline back on track to profitability. It is not

have just read your article on Biz News which was

rocket science, but it does need proper leadership and qualified

published in April. I agree so much with the sentiment of:

management. The public have been drawn into supporting the

why should the people and staff at SAA pay the price for

negativity that surrounds this once world class airline, without

the corruption of Zuma and his crony? But I believe that the

understanding that it’s not the dead horse they assume it to be.

question should be, should the entire country pay the price?

If other airlines can do it, so can South Africans! Let’s build on

National Treasury recently published a parcel of

the recent positive sentiment that we have experienced surrounding

proposed economic reforms online at the same time that they were

the imminent closure of our airline and show the world that we are

emailed to cabinet in the second half of 2019. Everyone had access

still open for business.

to the same information at the same time - a political masterstroke as it ensured that the document could not be undermined before it was publicly available. It laid out plans to encourage labour intensive growth in areas such as tourism. Tourism receipts tend to pick up when the currency is weaker. As a long-haul destination that is

Brad Bennetts Captain - South African Airways

expensive to reach, the country really has to fight for every foreign visitor in a highly competitive global tourism market.

With the relaxing of the lunatic changes to our country’s visa regime, which in the past saw a reported 10,000 families turned away at foreign airports and undermined tourism growth, it will take a concerted effort by South Africa to convince the world that it is a serious destination for real money. And real money in terms of foreign currency is what the country needs.

So is there a need for a flag carrier or national airline, which represents its home country internationally, to aid the country’s economy particularly in the area of tourism?

I believe the answer to be an emphatic YES! If we are serious

86 May/June 2020 | www.saflyer.com

Tell us what's on your mind: guy@saflyermag.co.za

FlightCm African Aviation

Edition 139/140 | MAY/JUNE 2020 Cover: United States Air Command

Africa’s inadequate airlift capability ELMAR CONRADIE – HOW WILL FLYSAFAIR SURVIVE?

DRONES vs MODEL PLANES AIRLINE SENIORITY 1 PRICE:FlightCom Magazine United States Dollars $3.50 | South African Rands R39.50 | Kenyan Shillings KES 300.00 | Nigerian Naira NGN600.00

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Ed's note...

MAY/JUNE 2020 Edition 139/140 Quote of the month

Tswalu Anti-Poaching Unit

5 7 9 13

Bush Pilot - Hugh Pryor Airline Ops - Mike Gough

17 Leagle Eagle - Prof. Salazar 21 Defence - Darren Olivier 25 Savage Barn Find in Uganda 29 Alpi Flight School Listing 33 AME Directory 34 AEP AMO Listing 39 Federal Airlines Charter Directory 41 Back Pages 42 Airline Morality Dassie Persaud-van der Westhuizen

W

HILE the Covid-19 pandemic has wrought havoc amongst airlines around the world, ironically African airlines have been spared the worst, despite usually being some of the world’s weakest.

IATA’s Alexandre de Juniac points out that, although globally airlines have enjoyed an almost unprecedented 10 years of good growth and profitable trading, the harsh reality is that it has really only been the top 30 of the world’s airlines that have profited from the good times. The remaining 300 or so, which constitute the bulk of the world’s airline industry, have remained a weak tail to the 30 successful airlines.

With the exception of Ethiopian and the privately owned low-cost carriers, Africa’s airline industry has fallen resoundingly into the dunce’s corner of the global aviation industry.

However, the idiosyncrasy of the African airline industry is that the majority of airlines are still state-owned. Ironically, this has made them better able to withstand the Covid pandemic than the more efficiently run private sector airlines. Simply put, a state-owned carrier can draw on the far less constrained pockets of its shareholder parent than privately owned airlines, most of which lead a hand-to-mouth existence on the back of support from profit-driven investors.

In the case of the African airline industry, now may finally be the time that states realise that a vulnerable high-profile business like an airline is one subsidy too many for their already strained state coffers.

However, while the time may be ripe for privatisation in Africa – around the world the move has been for governments to again take equity stakes in airlines they bail out.

Thus, the German government is taking a 20% stake in Lufthansa in return for a €9 billion bailout package.

For us, the Covid-19 lockdown has forced us to re-evaluate our FlightCom distribution model. The postal delivery and mail courier services have been increasingly letting us down in that an unacceptable proportion of the hard copies of the magazine have been going astray.

We will therefore produce a digital only version of both SA Flyer and FlightCom magazines, at least for the next couple of months. However, for FlightCom in particular, with its challenges of distribution into Africa, this may be a more permanent solution.

At the same time, we are developing our website into a more interactive offering, where we will be able to supply steady feedback and value to our readership and provide excellent content to carry our advertisers’ messages into their market.

For a business as grounded in print as FlightCom, this is a challenging step forward. However, we are confident that we will be able to reach a far broader and younger market and be able to build that market significantly on the back of a dynamic website.

As one of the few African based aviation publications, we are in touch with our market. We look forward to being able to spread our insights and unique perspective into an ever-widening readership.

We trust that you stay well for the remainder of the pandemic.

Guy Leitch

Publisher Flyer and Aviation Publications cc Managing Editor Guy Leitch guy@flightcommag.com Advertising Sales Wayne Wilson wayne@saflyermag.co.za Layout & Design Emily-Jane Kinnear 70

4

FlightCom Magazine

ADMIN: +27 (0)83 607 2335 Postal Address P O Box 71052 Bryanston, 2021 South Africa

TRAFFIC: +27 (0)81 039 0595 ACCOUNTS: +27 (0) 82 875 9630

© FlightCom 2020. All rights reserved worldwide. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted by any means, electronically, mechanically, photocopied, recorded or otherwise without the express permission of the copyright holders.

Editor

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SA Flyer 2019|03

For our list of available aircraft head over to our website www.ascendaviation.co.za.

APOLOGY:

AERIOS GLOBAL AVIATION Aerios Global Aviation (Pty) Ltd wishes to apologise for and retract the statement made in the April 2020 edition of SA Flyer magazine. AGA is NOT currently an Approved Vendor/Service Provider to the UN World Food Program.

We regret any inconvenience caused by this statement and we look forward to the possibility of working with the UN WFP again sometime in the future.

Malcolm Pitcher - CEO

QUOTE

of the month

Speaking about the SAA unions’ desperate attempts to save their jobs and keep their benefits, a business recue practitioner commented:

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SA Flyer 2020|03

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SA Flyer 2019|05

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Anti-Poaching

HELICOPTER ANTI-POACHING OPERATIONS Poaching has become an even larger problem during the Covid-19 pandemic lockdown. Three suspected poachers were arrested and a fourth wounded fatally during a shootout between the suspects and members of the Tswalu Anti-Poaching Unit.

T

HE four suspected poachers were apprehended on Sunday 19 April on a farm in South Africaâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s Northern Cape province. A member of the Kuruman Stock Theft unit requested the assistance of the Tswalu Anti-Poaching unit in tracking unknown footprints discovered on a farm in the Severn area in the JTG

8

FlightCom Magazine

Cluster. According to reports from the owner, he has been experiencing incidents of poaching on the farm.

The Tswalu Anti-Poaching unit provided aerial and ground support to SAPS. Assistance was also offered by Severn and Van Zylsrus police members.

The members of the Tswalu AntiPoaching unit who were in the helicopter noticed four suspects and relayed the

location to the members on the ground, where they were caught while attempting to poach.

An exchange of gun fire followed during which two were injured, one uninjured and one killed. The suspects were arrested and several firearms and ammunition were confiscated on the scene.

The injured suspects were transported to a local hospital in Kuruman for medical treatment and will be under police guard until their court appearance.

The police will be investigating an inquest case as well as illegal possession of firearms and ammunition, trespassing, contravening the Disaster Management Act Regulations and illegal immigrants as three of the suspects are undocumented immigrants.

The JTG cluster commander, Major General Johan Bean commended the members from the Tswalu Anti- Poaching unit, Kuruman Stock Theft unit, Severn and Van Zylsrus police for the multidisciplinary approach that was followed in the apprehension and arrest of the suspects in stamping down the authority of the state, especially during the lockdown period. ď&#x192;ź

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SA Flyer 2019|08

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BUSH PILOT HUGH PRYOR

Smelly

MAKES SENSE Yes, I know... I am an old bush-bum-pilot, surviving on copious quantities of nostalgic ‘seat-of-thepants’ flying stories of pilots who either had ‘the right stuff’ or who had to find a job in an office, swearing at a computer.

W

ELL, you may be right, but I would like to point out to you that we have experienced at least four major air disasters in recent years caused by computer malfunctions, compounded by the fact that the modern generation of pilots does not instinctively know what it is like to fly a real aeroplane, as opposed to a simulator or a computer game. In fact, it could be argued that these disasters would never have happened if the computers had not been there at all and the flying had been left up to a couple of competent, old-fashioned ‘hands-on’ pilots.

Traditionally we have been given five ‘senses’ to help us get through the day without falling over or bumping into things...’sight’, ‘hearing’, ‘touch’, ‘taste’ and ‘smell’ and us old fogies use every single one of them when we fly aeroplanes, so let’s have a look and see how they help.

1: SIGHT Nowadays, of course, we rely to an ever increasing extent on computers, but even in these modern times, we still depend on our eyes to look out for other traffic, and even if we are not looking out of the window, it’s nice to be able to watch the instruments, in

10

FlightCom Magazine

case you don’t have a good book to read and just occasionally the crew might actually have to land the thing!

2: HEARING Ears are useful tools to have in an aeroplane, not simply for the Co-pilot to hear the Captain’s only joke for the umpteenth time and therefore to know when to burst into caterwauls of laughter, but also to pick up that weird distant hissing noise, which might indicate that somebody didn’t shut the door properly or that nobody spotted the snake which had chosen that shady nook behind the rudder pedals to settle down for a postprandial siesta.

Of course, there are various bells and whistles which are specifically designed to attract the attention of the crew via their ears and in fact this was once used for a rather amusing ‘pay-back’.

There was a certain Captain who will remain anonymous, (although his name did start with an ‘A’, in case he denies this story) who had the infuriating habit of stealing slot times. He would sit glued to the ‘Delivery’ frequency until you only had a couple of minutes until your slot time was due and then he would sneak in and inform the Controller that he was ready for departure clearance and push-back.

Having heard nothing from you, they

would clear Captain ‘A’ to push back and taxi, leaving you to get another slot time, which might involve a delay of anything up to an hour for the next available slot.

One of our Captains had the answer:Having lost his slot time to Captain ‘A’ for the second time in a week, he waited until the ‘slot burglar’ was half way down the runway, on take-off, before reaching up to the cockpit loud speaker with his microphone and pressing the ‘Test’ button on the ‘Master Warning Claxon’.

The resulting panic alert screamed out over the airwaves and into the ear phones of Captain ‘A’, who, upon hearing the urgent scream of the claxon, instinctively aborted his take-off and spent the next hour trying to find out what had set it off!

It never occurred to him that anybody could have been playing a little jape on him even though he had to wait for nearly two hours for his next slot time.

3: TOUCH I was flying for the Red Cross during the war in Angola and as a result of the war, Angolan airspace was not exactly friendly, in fact we lost three of our six Twin Otters almost incredibly without incurring any injuries, and our C-130 Hercules, sadly with no survivors.

Our last landing of that week was at a place called Ganda. Ganda airstrip is not paved, but it is long enough and smooth enough to handle a Hercules.

There is a large bald dome of rock which sticks up out of the ground on the northwest corner of the runway. We got airborne and as we approached the dome. I noticed that there was someone sitting right on top of it and I waved politely until I realised that the stick which he was holding was

BUSH PILOT HUGH PRYOR

actually spitting smoke in our direction and his stick was actually a Kalashnikov assault rifle.

This led me desperately to head for the clouds, which were mercifully low and offered us somewhere to hide from our poacher down below.

Then smoke began to infiltrate the flight deck...not thick black smoke...more of a mist which smelled strongly of hydraulic fluid, so I quickly checked the flaps, the brakes and the nose-wheel steering to see if anything was obviously leaking, and then I presented the back of my hand to the floor, as recommended by HSE and thank goodness I did, because the floor was hot enough to fry the hairs on my arm and I got to the hydraulic pump circuit breaker before it cooked the whole aeroplane.

After landing at our home base of Huambo, engineers had to disconnect the nose-wheel steering before towing us into the hangar, where I told our heroic story of being shot at by that little guy on the dome at Ganda.

As it turned out, the reason why the pump had failed was because I had not checked the fluid level for over a week and it had run out, causing the pump to seize...so guess who now religiously checks his fluid levels before each flight...just to save embarrassment, you understand!

4: SMELL Well that’s fairly obvious...if it is ‘avgas, it will smell of petrol. if it is ‘avtur’ then it will smell like a paraffin stove and if it is ‘diesel’ it will smell like an old London Bus. After ten years of flying for the Red Cross in some of the less well known corners of Africa I became familiar with one of the most sickening aromas known to man and that is rotting human flesh, otherwise known as ‘gas gangrene’.

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One Christmas the Red Cross bosses came out from Geneva to congratulate us for a job well done, to wish us a Merry Christmas and to raise morale with some nice little freebies from the civilised part of the World , that is Geneva. There was a case of really delicious Swiss ‘bubbly’ and another one of a rich and fruity red wine from the southern valleys of the Alps. This was followed by an exotic thermo-nuclear liqueur which was obviously designed to bring blessed release from the relentless snow drifts which clog the high mountain retreats during the winter, but their ‘piece de resistance’ was a priceless Swiss cheese from the remote alms, hidden from view by the jagged peaks of the frozen mountains.

The cheese had the exact consistency and odour of gas gangrene and when I mentioned this it was probably the reason why it was left completely untouched during their visit.

5: TASTE Believe it or not, yes, taste also has its place in the pre-flight checklist, rather like ‘smell’. Petrol, kerosene and hydraulic fluid all taste very different to each other, to experienced taste buds.

Obviously, you don’t need to gobble down pints of the stuff...as it was explained to me, you simply take a finger-tip-full of the liquid and ‘sniff’ it with your tongue. In fact a certain Captain ‘Knowall’ once proudly pointed out to me, as he licked his fingers, that the liquid which was leaking out of the nose gear strut of our aircraft was definitely not hydraulic fluid and I didn’t have the heart to tell him that it had actually been left there by the engineer’s dog.

So, all you young aces, us Oldies treat the modern automatic flight and navigation gismos as tools to help us to fly the aeroplane, in other words, we actually fly the computers, if they are working and if they are not, then we just revert to flying the real thing...simple really. 

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AIRLINES MIKE GOUGH

SENIORITY

FILLING A DEAD MAN’S SHOES Promotion based on Seniority is not liked by minorities.

We were told to report for duty, Room 109, at 0700, Monday 3 November 1997. There was, of course, absolutely no-one there except the seven of us in my intake, all looking a little lost. Things in this government department did not start until 0830 at the earliest.

I

had dutifully arrived early, dressed in my civilian finest – an ill-fitting suit that I had also used for that all-important interview a few months earlier. I was the youngest of my group, and the only non-SAAF pilot, tacked onto this intake almost as an afterthought.

We wandered around the passageways of the training section, and cheekily stuck our heads into the simulator hall to ogle the very serious looking Boeing 747 Classic simulator that was to be our first assignment in the airline, as third (or ‘boy’) pilots.

Around nine that morning, we were let into a classroom, and the welcomes and procedural stuff started. One of the first items up for discussion was a concept that was completely alien to me at the time – that of Seniority.

I had previously been flying for a tiny airline that had five aircraft and around 20 pilots. I had joined as what I subsequently learned to be referred to as a DEC, or Direct

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Entry Captain. This particular operation had no seniority list, and the current first officers either lacked the hours or the Airline Transport Pilot licence required to become captain. I had managed to crack the nod on both counts.

I had never flown a twin turbine, and certainly nothing as seemingly complicated and fire-breathing as the solid Let 410.

However, three weeks and fifty hours later from the right-hand seat, I was not only signed out as P1 on the aircraft but also as instructor. It was just how things worked there, in a small, rapidly expanding operation.

The significance of the discussion that we entered into that first day of being in a ‘real’ airline was, at the time, still a little lost on me, but ended up with me being officially awarded the most junior place of my intake.

As the seven of us were all joining on the same day, we had to fight it out between us as to who would be who in our new zoo.

The method used was firstly, who had an ATP? We all did. Next was using

Wings date (for the ex-SAAF guys) or date of gaining the civilian CPL, in my case. Thus, I ended up at the bottom of my particular pile and was officially awarded seniority number 701. As there were then 701 pilots in the airline, I also had the very un-prestigious role of being the most junior pilot in the entire outfit.

For what it’s worth, I’m now officially number 213, but realistically around 190, due to the last year’s attrition. Moving 511 places in 22.5 years indicates an average loss of 23 pilots per year. Hardly an eye watering pace of moving up the ranks which is testament to the solid operation, and consequent lack of desire to leave, that we used to have within the national carrier.

Of the seven of us who joined, however, only three of us remain active on the seniority list.

An early retirement, a resignation, and recently contract flying and one death, has seen our numbers dwindle.

RIP Gus. So, what has seniority done for me in the past twenty-two and a half years? In a

nutshell, it has maintained law and order and essentially allowed the airline to function.

As illustrated, it is significant in terms of longevity, or retention of the pilot group – good for any clear-thinking management team.

It’s a peg to hang one’s hat on, a confirmed place in the queue for all things airline. Promotions, upgrades from copilot to captain, fleet choice, operating base choice, leave bidding and monthly roster preferences are all rooted in seniority.

Seniority is pilot union driven, versus the HR department taking these decisions.

In the latter, for those airlines globally that have non-pilot individuals calling these shots for the pilots, a so-called meritocracy exists. The problem being that differing standards of morals and ethics define what ‘merit’ is in different ways from one group of individuals to the next.

Yes-men, drinking and golfing buddies of HR, being ‘go-orientated’ in terms of dubious levels of aircraft serviceability, brown-nosing and outright corruption become the order of the day in such decisions for promotion and other perks and functions.

There is, at present a concerted move to dissolve the seniority list and completely remove all current terms and conditions of employment for the pilot group. But replace seniority with what?

Chaos is not a system.

If South Africa was a bastion of anticorrupt and totally moral behaviour, we would potentially have less to be concerned about, however…

Earnest K. Gann, in his epic book Fate is The Hunter, refers to his early airline days in the late 1940s and early 1950s and the effect the seniority system had on his career.

He was not a fan of system, but generally those at the bottom of the list wanting to move at a pace faster than 23 places a year, are not. However, as our national carrier has had its seniority system in place since the same time as Gann was part of one, it gives a sense of the structure that a traditional airline gravitates towards.

Gann left his seniority-based airline for another that made its decisions at managements’ and HR’s whim, and this essentially ended his airline career.

As I mentioned, I started at absolute rock bottom, paid my dues and steadily moved up from P3, to domestic P2, long range P2 and presently domestic P1 on the A320 fleet. When my number came up to join the training section, I put up my hand and jumped through all the requisite hoops

to be appointed. Having a Grade One instructor rating and current DFE status at the time certainly helped. That was 17 years ago during the introduction of the A340 fleet, or around six years into my tenure at our national carrier.

Around the world, various versions of seniority and non-seniority abound. A US major has the ‘up or out’ principle when it comes time to move from the right seat to the left. This essentially does not allow the seniority-based time for upgrade, the option of turning it down and using the position of super-senior first officer to enhance one’s lifestyle.

Similarly, it is generally accepted that a maximum of two attempts be given to the upgrade candidate, and if one tanks on the second attempt, an airline or career change is required.

Should one choose another airline, one starts at the bottom, if a seniority system is involved.

Removing this system exposes us as pilots in a not-so glowing light. Whether we would like to blame our so-called A-type personality, super competitiveness or just plain greed, we see non-seniority airlines having their pilot group non-unified, and ready to trample on the co-worker and stick the knife in whenever the option for any promotion is on the cards.

This plays out well for an HR department that would prefer non-unionism and a workforce that can be swayed with

make him or her captain out of seniority, and place this newly minted commander in the same cockpit as the bypassed first officer. Being the professionals that I hope we all are, the first officer should still point out looming issues in a level cockpitgradient way. However, depending on the individual bitterness involved, waiting for the new captain to screw up and have an incident may well be the order of the day.

It’s happened before in other airlines, and the threat to safety cannot be ignored.

In the interests of balance allow me to point out that seniority systems are also not without faults. A frequent criticism is that a mediocre individual will become a captain ahead of a much more capable individual, if proficiency is demonstrated and seniority position allows. The ‘more capable’ guy just has to wait his turn.

That’s where training and checking has always had its ultimate responsibility, fairness and firmness without fear or favour.

But that’s a discussion for another time.

In the end the arguments for the seniority system are circular with some pointing out its shortcomings versus talking up its benefits. Your perception of it would be directly influenced as a result of your individual position within the system and with your particular peer group’s agenda.

The great thing about seniority is that it is largely free of political interference and in our country, anything that is politicised cannot be trusted.

Seniority means having to wait for pilots to retire - or die before you can be promoted. No matter what your skin colour.

extending unequal favour. Divide and rule at its best. The consequences of this for the non-pilot type is certainly not fully grasped.

Flight safety in any airline is paramount.

Whether senior management, HR or the airline board like it or not, pilots are the gatekeepers of flight safety.

Let’s now place a super-junior first officer way above a senior first officer and

Yet this is all pretty moot as the airline continues to crater. Should any form of sustainable entity arise from the selfinduced ashes of a once great airline, certain principles that have been proven globally to work, cannot be unilaterally discarded. So, let’s not mess with the seniority system, we have way bigger issues to deal with at present. 

FlightCom Magazine

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Airlines D assie P ersaud - van

der

W esthuizen

AIRLINE MORALITY DURING COVID-19: Airlines are considering neutralising the middle seat to reduce the risk of infection.

Are you a ‘good’ person? To those of you uncomfortably recalling your actions and feeling the weight of a guilty conscience, like after eating the last slice of cake: take a deep breath and relax. The answer isn’t black and white, even if we may wish it to be.

V

ASTLY different ideas exist about what constitutes being ‘good’ and ‘bad’. It’s about moral philosophy, also known as ethics.

Our behaviour is often linked to our circumstances. Instead of only theorising about moral philosophy in hypothetical situations, the Covid-19 crisis has reminded us that humans are neither inherently good, nor evil. We have the capacity to be both.

Each of us should assess on which side of the morality spectrum we would like to fall during these trying times.

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As juristic persons, with many of the rights that natural persons have, the same holds true for businesses. Displaying admirable qualities through Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) programmes during good times is easy. What sets businesses apart are their morals while navigating difficulties in a way that maintains public trust through ethical practices. CEO’s will tell you that doing so is essential for long term success. This is because pure hard-line capitalism has proven unsustainable in times of crisis. The United Nations Global Compact details

that businesses should be good corporate citizens. Gone are the days where “the business of business is business.”

CSR is a twofold concept: it considers what happens within, as well as outside, the business. Internally, it includes paying employees decent wages and creating safe and enabling working conditions.

Externally, it involves social contributions and minimising adverse environmental impact.

The aviation industry has no shortage of impressive CSR projects during periods of economic growth: Some airlines (like EasyJet) focus on gender wage parity and diversifying the human capital pool by providing scholarships to women. IndiGo (a low-cost Indian airline) goes further by actively enabling women to balance work and family by providing day care facilities at the workplace. Others raise and donate funds to partner organisations that provide healthcare to underprivileged children.

The aviation industry’s initiatives aimed at addressing climate change are particularly fascinating. Interim measures (by airlines

such as British Airways) involve offsetting carbon emissions - every tonne of CO2 omitted from fuel is compensated for by reducing a tonne of the same from the air, by planting trees or supporting rain forest preservation efforts. Long term goals aim at reducing carbon emissions by introducing fuel efficient aircraft into the fleet. The Airbus A320 is a prime example of this – the new engine option (NEO), when coupled with wingtip ‘sharklets’, is 15-20% more fuel efficient than the current engine option (CEO). The NEO is also quieter, creating less noise pollution, especially when combined with airlines implementing continuous descent approaches.

These initiatives are laudable. But what happens when economies crash, like our current reality in COVID-19? This crisis has exposed those who are passionate about social responsibility and those less so. Is it ethical, for example, to do as the following aviation players have done: • A handful of private airport operators in Asia attempted to maintain profits by charging higher levies. IATA stepped in to remind the industry to maintain high business and ethical practices during the pandemic.

• A European airline ‘withdrew’ cadet pilot’s contracts (who had self-funded their training) the day before paying out £174m to shareholders, instead of placing the cadets on unpaid leave like the rest of the crew. £60m went into the airline founder’s pockets. Do their successful CSR practices during the periods of economic growth outweigh these questionable actions during times of crises?

• Some airlines have, so far, decided not to refund tickets for cancelled flights. A law firm is currently threatening legal action against major European carriers as a result of this.

Maybe passengers should use their experiences (whether positive of negative), while trying to get reimbursed for cancelled flights, as an opportunity to be more conscious

about the carriers they support in future?

• Those airlines, who failed to build strong balance sheets, are requesting government bailouts. Governments have, and will continue to, rescue some. Contrary to what one might think, airlines incur massive daily expenses while their fleet is grounded. These include parking fees and maintenance expenses – aircraft wheels are rotated every two weeks, hydraulic fluid is applied regularly to the landing gear to avoid rust, measures are taken to prevent birds nesting in gaps, batteries are reconnected bimonthly, and the engines are started during the bigger monthly inspections. Current employees might view this as hope for their future aviation careers. I wonder how taxpayers will feel if their taxes go towards bailouts for industry players with poor CSR programmes.

While it is tempting to harden one’s heart to act with a ‘cut throat’ attitude for survival, airlines should consider the long term benefits of treating their stakeholders with respect and dignity – for internal morale, employee commitment and their brand reputation.

After all, the world is facing a humanitarian crisis. And the aviation industry provides jobs for 65 million workers globally – all of whom are affected by the travel bans.

Although businesses are expected to act responsibly, they are not charities; and will necessarily require some compromise from their employees. Provided we don’t take advantage of each other, Covid-19 could be survivable. Some airlines have already shown that the desired results could be achievable while acting humanely: • After announcing that layoffs are inevitable, United Airlines provided incentives for crew to quit their jobs or take early retirement. These include five years of active employee travel benefits, receiving top tier status plus 250,000 miles and priority for job vacancies, should they wish to return in the future.

Airlines need to respond with moral authority ahead of profits to the Covid-19 pandemic.

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• A middle eastern airline – who is known for their stringent style and cabin crew standards – has set these aside in favour of preserving crew’s health while working: They created disposable plastic covers to be worn over their uniforms for extra protection.

• Brussels Airlines pilots have written an open letter proposing pay cuts by 45% for reduced working hours until 2023, in an attempt to prevent job losses. Given the state of the industry, they noted that retrenched crew will struggle to find similar jobs in aviation for years, so it is best for all employees to find a way to get through the crises together. “This way, Brussels Airlines will avoid €22 million in severance pay to the 191 pilots. In total,

and until 2023, the airline will save up to €100 million in wages,” they explained.

This shows that we all have a part to play in adjusting to the pandemic.

No one in this industry will walk away unscathed. And if the individual players in the aviation industry are sincere with their CSR, they should perhaps seize the opportunity that COVID-19 opens for them to substantively embrace the African notion of Ubuntu (“I am because we are” or “humanity towards others”). This would mean the treatment of their suppliers, employees, passengers and other stakeholders on the basis of people, then planet and lastly profit morality. If the airline industry achieves this, one could proudly say that its players are indeed ‘good’ people. 

AIRLINES WILL FACE LOSS MAKING LOADS WHEN THEY RETURN TO FLIGHT.

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The Gazette – on full gas Is it a Model, a UAV or RPAS? – And what’s a ‘conversion’ and ‘currency’?

If you were wondering what the CAA has been up to during the lockdown - it’s not idly watching Generations and Muvhango.

During the Covid-19 confinement our regulator did not confine itself to reading SA Flyer over a cup of coffee either.

T

HEIR rulemaking department has forged ahead with proposals to change regulations (CARS) and technical standards (CATS). These were duly gazetted and were officially published by the Government Printing Works on 3 April 2020 in what is called, for those who enjoy that sort of recondite detail, a “Regulation Gazette”.

And for those who enjoy formalities, here it goes, full gas: “The Minister of Transport intends, in terms of section 155(1) of the Civil Aviation Act, 2009 (Act No. 13 of 2009) and on the recommendation of the Civil Aviation Regulations Committee (CARCom), to amend the Civil Aviation Regulations, 2011, by the amendment of the following Parts set out in Schedules below.”

Same lingo for CATS. Except that it comes from the Director of Civil Aviation (why that difference in status? Because Act 13 of 2009 says so).

What follows the declaration is a list of 17 Schedules, that is, sets of changes, no less than nine for CARS and eight for CATS. Each schedule relates to a specific Part.

The text of the schedules are usually uploaded a few days later onto the SACAA website (http://www.caa.co.za/Pages/Acts%20 and%20Regulations/Notices.aspx). There is always an instrument lag, call it “hardware-software-humanware interface latency” if you like big words.

The Gazette ends on a request: “Interested persons are hereby invited to submit written comments on these draft amendments on or before the 03 May 2020 to the Chairperson.”

‘Verstaan jy?’

What are the changes? Good question. There is an art to reading the Schedules.

A Schedule quotes the current version of the regulation or technical standard alongside what is proposed for deletion in [bold and square brackets] and for insertion (read: proposed new wording) underlined with a solid line. When the proposed change is long, it is called a “substitution”. If it happens that a proposed change is entirely new (it does not replace anything), the whole change is underlined, and it can run into pages.

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Examples speak volumes, if you have switched on your radio, that is.

RPAS beware!

An example of an important proposed change of a definition (Parts 1.01.1) RPAS enthusiasts must take note of! – “model aircraft” means a heavier-than-air aircraft of limited dimensions, with or without a propulsion device, unable to carry a human being, [and] to be used for competition, sport or recreational purposes [rather than unmanned aeronautical vehicles (UAV) developed for commercial or governmental, scientific, research or military purposes, and not exceeding the specifications as set by the Federation Aeronautique Internationale as listed in Document SA-CATS 24]; Note. -This definition excludes RPAS [developed for commercial, governmental, scientific, research, or military purposes,] and not exceeding the specifications as determined by the organisation approved in terms of Part 149 as listed in Document SA-CATS 24.

Verstaan jy? NO? Just compare the current definition for a model aircraft (barring the spelling errors in French) which reads “model aircraft” means a heavier-than-air aircraft of limited dimensions, with or without a propulsion device, unable to carry a human being and to be used for competition, sport or recreational purposes rather than unmanned aeronautical vehicles (UAV) developed for commercial or governmental, scientific, research or military purposes, and not exceeding the specifications as set by the Federation Aeronautique Internationale as listed in Document SACATS 24. with the proposed definition that will probably read if confirmed:

“model aircraft” means a heavier-than-air aircraft of limited dimensions, with or without a propulsion device, unable to carry a human being, to be used for competition, sport, or recreational…..

Note. -This definition excludes and not exceeding the specifications as determined by the organisation approved in terms of Part 149 as listed in Document SA-CATS 24.

your “revalidation check” (or “competency” check) within the limit set (basic rule: 24 months). Result? You have not “maintained competency” because you “exceeded” the time limit to perform the check. Then CARS provides for a variety of remedies (see 61.04.5 and 61.05.7, or my Air Law, same chapter).

French or no French, those changes often look like a foreign language, with brackets and underlining. It does exercise the mind when they are substantial.

Now, you may ask, why on earth, and in Heaven, the need to change the definition of a model aircraft? Well, as the Gazette says: “The proposal is intended to exclude RPAS from the application of the definition of ‘model aircraft’”.Do I need to point a finger at some smart guys who fly RPAS under the pretense that they are model aircraft? No. SACAA does it pretty well. Nou verstaan jy?

And to round off this overview, at time of writing, on Labour Day, rejoice at the thought that there are two “Bills in waiting”, amending current legislation (a bill is proposed legislation making its way through Parliament). These are the Airports Company amendment bill and the Air Traffic and Navigation Services Company amendment bill, both introduced in 2018, that are now with the National Council of Provinces.

As for the amendment bill to the tome we keep on our side table, (you do, don’t you?) the Civil Aviation Act, an amendment introduced, also in 2018, is yet to reach the National Assembly.

When it does, expect some changes that may go beyond “tarting up” regulations. You will verstaan what I mean when you see it. 

Conversion, conversion, conversion Schedule 2 also impacts (or will, if accepted) Part 1 of CARS. It brings clarity (or confusion, just see how an instructor reacts) to the complex question of a type “conversion” and allied issues (see Chapter 5 of my Air Law book). Here are two new definitions (therefore underlined in the Schedule), meant to align our regulations with ICAO Annex 6, Part 1. “differences training” means training required to ensure a flight or cabin crew member is proficient on similar aeroplane types or variants having significant differences in terms of equipment, configuration or operation. “familiarisation training” means training required to ensure a flight or cabin crew member is proficient on similar aeroplane types or variants having only minor differences in terms of equipment, configuration or operation.

And for the upper crust pilots, a neat new definition: “upgrade training” means training provided to advance a flight crew member from one flight crew position to a higher flight crew position.

Bills in waiting

What's the difference between a model and a drone?

I am exceedingly competent, Sir! And what about this proposed change, on the nerve wrecking “competency” issue (see my Air Law, Chapter 5): “regaining competency” means the training, and where specified, the check required when a person exceeds the currency criteria of any qualification required by this Part and is designed to return such person to a satisfactory level of competence.

I had to do a double-take to fully grasp the syntax, but what it means is rather simple: if your competency lapses (“exceeds” a time limit), you have to do what you have to do. Personally I would not have used “exceed” without making it clear what is exceeded (= gone beyond), time limit, as in English to exceed also means to do more, and not less which is, in fact, what you do when competency lapses.

Verstaan jy?

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SA Flyer 2019|09

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USAF C-130s had to be used from Entebbe to Bunia for Operation Artemis.

Defence D arren O livier

AFRICA ADOPTS SHARED STRATEGIC LIFT For the twenty years since its founding in 2001, the African Union (AU) has sought to develop a rapidresponse African-led peacekeeping capability, the African Standby Force (ASF), that would prevent genocides, defeat nascent insurgencies and assist in disaster response.

F

ROM the very beginning it was recognised that strategic airlift would be a critical enabler for deployments to occur in time, and that Africa’s relative lack of suitable aircraft would present a problem. The ASF’s approach to solving this, the Strategic Lift Capability (SLC), was recently declared operational, just in time to help with the continent’s response to the COVID-19 pandemic. This month’s column explores the background of this concept, and whether we can really consider the need to have been met.

It has long been understood that, once a crisis reaches the point where intervention is necessary to prevent large scale loss of life, that the speed of deployment of relief forces is the most crucial factor. A smaller force deployed and active within days will be more effective than a much larger force

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that takes many weeks or months to deploy and begin operations.

This is especially true for what the ASF’s founding policy framework terms ‘Scenario 6’ interventions, defined as a response to a time-critical situation such as a genocide. As such, the AU’s requirement for its Rapid Response Capability meant to perform Scenario 6 interventions specified that one of the ASF’s regional brigades should be able to deploy within no more than 14 days after receiving the order, and should be self-sustaining for at least 90 days thereafter.

This need for haste in responding to genocide or similar crises was most vividly illustrated by the Rwandan genocide of 1994, in which over 800,000 people were murdered in only 100 days. Many studies in the years since have argued that a large enough intervention by regional or

international military forces in the first two weeks would have prevented the vast majority of killings.

The problem is that deploying a battalion or brigade-sized force in just 14 days takes a huge amount of airlift, requiring dozens of C-130 sized, or larger aircraft, flying hundreds of sorties to airlift the personnel and their associated vehicles and other equipment.

A typical South African National Defence Force (SANDF) motorised infantry battalion for instance, consists of approximately 800 soldiers, 90-100 lightly armoured personnel carriers, and another 80-90 soft-skinned logistics vehicles. Even light battalions, such as paratrooper and air assault regiments, need support vehicles such as the 60+ air-droppable Gecko 8x8 light logistics vehicles assigned to 1 Parachute Regiment.

The US military has previously calculated that a typical US Army airborne infantry battalion of 730 troops and at least 70 vehicles requires a minimum of 64 C-130s for a single-sortie air drop or air land mission. This can obviously be substantially reduced at the cost of deployment time, but only down to a certain reasonable limit beyond which the number of sorties

on a small fleet of aircraft becomes unmanageable and takes too long.

Another example of the immense airlift requirements for moving an intervention force around and which should be a cautionary tale for the African Standby Force is the 2003 European Union-led deployment of an intervention force in Ituri Province, Democratic Republic of the Congo. Dubbed Operation Artemis, the mission requirements were to deliver 1,200 troops, over 2,500 tons of equipment, and over 270 vehicles from airfields in western Europe to the austere airstrip at Bunia some 6,000 km away.

The first problem the Artemis planners faced was that Bunia’s airfield could not support large and heavy cargo aircraft without months of preparation work, making it only suitable for C-130-sized aircraft in the time allocated for the operation. This meant that the large aircraft allocated to the mission (2 C-135s, 2 C-17s, 2-3 chartered An-124s, and 2-3 A310s) had to fly first to Entebbe in Uganda and offload there, after which C-130s and C-160s would ferry troops and cargo to Bunia 300 km and 50 minutes

comprising 50 An-124 sorties, 20 each for the A310s and C-17s, and 72 for the C-130/C-160s between Europe and Entebbe

point. Even with the A400M’s remarkable capabilities their analysis determined that at least 10 A400Ms and 227 rotations would

the mission requirements were to deliver 1,200 troops, over 2,500 tons of equipment, and over 270 vehicles from airfields in western Europe and then over 260 C-130/C-160 rotations between Entebbe and Bunia. Up to eight C-130/C-160 rotations were required to unload each An-124.

Worse, the total deployment took nearly 40 days, far longer than the ASF’s selfimposed deadline of 14 days which it hoped to achieve despite having nowhere near the same number of available aircraft.

A few years ago Airbus Military

be required, for a minimum deployment time of 23 days.

To be fair, the AU’s planners have recognised the inherent limitations the continent faces on airlift and have sought to ameliorate it somewhat with ideas to pre-position equipment in various regional logistics bases. It has also established the Continental Movement Coordination Centre (CMCC), intended to oversee and

presented an analysis of Operation Artemis as part of their A400M marketing effort, showing how the operation might have been conducted using A400Ms only, in order to fly directly into Bunia and avoid the use of Entebbe as an intermediate staging

manage airlift contributed by member countries, short-term contracted airlift from the private sector, sealift and overland movement.

The CMCC has received pledges from each AU regional grouping for airlift

The USAF C-17s - seen here departing Entebbe - could not operate into Bunia in the DRC.

flight time away. The vehicles too large or heavy to fit inside C-130s and C-160s had to drive a 640 km, 16-hour journey on poor roads from Entebbe to Bunia.

It took a whopping 400 rotations to move this relatively small force to Bunia,

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A Nigerian Air Force C-130H was successfully used by the Eastern African Standby Force.

assets, but the numbers committed are low.

Cameroon, Angola, Algeria, South Africa and Uganda have all offered effectively just one aircraft each with limited availability.

There is simply no capacity to offer more.

South Africa may have nine C-130s on paper, as an example, but under current funding can only keep two active and on the flight line at any given time. That’s not enough for its own needs, let alone spare capacity for AU missions. The rest of the continent is not much better.

To be clear there have been some successes. During Amani Africa II, the 2015 exercise hosted in South Africa to test the level of the ASF’s readiness, the CMCC successfully negotiated the use of a Nigerian Air Force C-130H to transport a company of troops from the Eastern African Standby Force. In the same exercise, Angola and Algeria self-deployed their forces using their own airlift. In the week that this column was written, the AU used a Cameroonian C-130H to move personnel from the African Centre for Disease Control to COVID-19 hotspots on the continent.

These are all encouraging steps, but it’s questionable whether it’s enough to meet the rapid deployment requirements that the ASF has been created to meet.

For one, the CMCC’s current approach

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of looking to charter aircraft only when needed is cost-effective but will probably take too long in a crisis. There are also just too few air forces with available transport aircraft to be able to undertake an Operation Artemis scale airlift, let alone to do so within 14 days.

There are potential options to improve this situation without the need for a huge increase in funding. One approach could be to mimic what NATO and the EU have done with the Strategic Airlift International Solution (SALIS) which involves prepurchasing a set number of short-notice hours on a fleet of chartered An-124s. By pre-purchasing hours NATO and the EU are assured availability without having to wait for aircraft to become available. Obviously, the AU could not afford the same scale as NATO and the EU, but even 100 hours a year would make a substantial difference. It may also look at joining SALIS, to benefit from the economies of scale already present in that operation.

Another approach worth considering is the compensation of countries for the use of their air assets, similar to the way the Movement Coordination Centre Europe (MCCE) provides a pool of aircraft by purchasing space and flying hours from member nations. This not only improves

availability but makes it more viable for countries to pledge those assets in the first place.

Finally, although continental integration might not be far enough along for this, the AU should give serious consideration to acquiring 4-6 A400M airlifters and operating them as a shared resource accessible by all partner nations according to assessed need or payment. This is similar to what NATO has done with its Strategic Airlift Capability (SAC), in which 12 partner nations committed to buying and operating 3 C-17 airlifters as a shared resource for 30 years. The SAC C-17s are based at Pápa Air Force Base in Hungary and carry Hungarian Air Force registration and markings, but Hungary has no special control over them. A similar approach with A400Ms based somewhere like Entebbe would provide a huge boost to the ASF’s airlift capabilities at a shared cost that would be affordable for the AU’s partner nations even as it’s too costly for any one of them.

If the continent is serious about giving the African Standby Force real rapid deployment capabilities, it needs more than just member pledges of single airlifters and a database of charter operators. 

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Savage BARN FIND IN UGANDA Part 1 C raig L ang

During early October 2019, while pottering around the hangar at our base in Kwazulu Natal at Evaâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s Field, my phone rang.

The caller, Noel, asked if I was the South African dealer for the Savage range of aircraft as he might have an interesting proposition.

Driving through Kajjansi Village to find the forgotten Savage.

N

OEL said he is an Aircraft Maintenance Engineer (AME) who contracts to various conservation organisations around Africa, doing maintenance and repairs on their antipoaching aircraft. He had done some repairwork on a Savage in Uganda that had been ground-looped back in 2015 and had been offered the aircraft in lieu of other work done for this particular group in the past.

Without vast experience on the Savages, Noel asked whether I would consider going to Uganda to inspect the aircraft with him and see if it was viable to fly it back to SA. I agreed â&#x20AC;&#x201C; on the condition I had an option of buying the aircraft, should it indeed be a worthwhile proposition.

We met the following week in the airport in Entebbe, Uganda, and spent three nights in a little hotel called the Mak-Queen in a

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After standing in an open shed for 4 years the Savage was a sorry sight.

village on the outskirts of Kampala, called Kajjansi. From the hotel it was a 10 minute walk to the Kajjansi Airfield, home to the Ugandan MAF base as well as KEA (Kampala Executive Aviation), where the Savage had been stored in an outside hangar for more than four years. KEA runs an impeccably neat charter, maintenance and flying training service, with a number of expats employed from around the world.

One of these expats is Koos van der Walt, a South African with aviation experience in some really interesting places around the middle east. Koos provided us with great assistance, providing a large clean (could eat off the floor) hangar, tools and logistical help to us.

Noel and I spent two full days cleaning, re-rigging, lubing, checking and doing a really thorough annual inspection on the aircraft. Fuel lines and oil lines were purged, plugs replaced, new ignition systems installed on the Rotax 912 (the original ones were missing).

Knowing Savages inside-out, I was able to make a few adjustments to various controls, pedals and other areas to get the aircraft manageable on the ground and

Rigging and cleaning in progress.

The ASI was in km/h , and in Russian, the VSI in M/Sec, and amazingly it had an old MGL engine gauge.

On the second afternoon, we started her Rotax and she ran quite sweetly. I wasn’t able to get much more than 3700 rpm out of the engine during taxi tests, so we set about trying to adjust the pitch of the propeller, which ended up requiring the hub to be pressed in a 20 ton hydraulic press. Not having any means to measure the propeller pitch, we had to guestimate it.

Once adjusted, we refitted the prop, and I was ready for a test flight.

THE AIRCRAFT HAD BEEN MANUFACTURED IN THE CZECH REPUBLIC, ASSEMBLED IN POLAND, AND REGISTERED IN FRANCE. flyable in the air. We were aiming at getting her flying by the second day. Wasp nests in the wings and other hidden areas were cleaned out, tyres inflated (even though quite badly perished, they held their pressure), brake lines cleaned and new brake fluid administered. Amazingly the French ATF and radio license was still valid!

The panel layout and instrumentation was a little unusual. The aircraft had been manufactured in the Czech Republic by Zlin Aviation, assembled in Poland, and registered in France...making for some interesting reading in the logbooks (which amazingly had accompanied the aircraft, and after some searching, the original Certificate of Registration, Radio License and current ATF were found in a cupboard in Garamba in the DRC!!)

This time, the prop was a touch too fine, and being careful not to over-rev the engine, I managed to get airborne after a fairly short roll (Kajjansi is at 4000ft, virtually on the equator, and right on the edge of Lake Victoria). After flying 59DOH (the aircraft’s French reg) for about 30 minutes in the circuit, I landed to make a few adjustments.

One was to coarsen the prop, which was easier this time without having to remove it and put it into a press, and to adjust the rudder pedals, giving them more travel, and also to re-bleed the brakes, which were almost non-existent.

One more test flight late in the afternoon was enough to show me the potential of this neglected little aircraft that amazingly had only 20 hours on the Hobbs, total time! I was in love.

That evening Noel and I were invited to join Koos and his wife for dinner at a little restaurant called “2 Friends”, on a beach looking out over Lake Victoria. A meal of delicious Nile Perch cooked in banana leaves, washed down with some superb local beer was a fitting end to a successful scouting trip, and an amazing little gem of an aircraft hidden away in central Africa…

Uganda really impressed me with its hustle and energy, with thousands of scooters, locally called “Borda borda’s” (named after the taxi service they provide from border to border on the Kenya and Tanzania borders), traders and manufacturers of furniture and all sorts of items lining the main roads. The people are incredibly friendly and helpful, and there was a genuine air of a country on the rise. I would love to return one day to fly and explore some incredible sights, such as the source of the Nile at Jinja and other areas around this tropical paradise.

Noel and I concluded the business end of the transaction while on the Kenya Airways flight back via Nairobi, comfortable in the knowledge that 59DOH was safe in the large hangar at KEA, and would soon form part of my little fleet of Savages in South Africa.

As soon as I arrived home, I set about the task of how to get the aircraft back to SA. There were 3 possible options 1. Send it via container (very expensive option as it turned out, even more than shipping from Europe).

2. Drive up to Uganda, dismantle the aircraft and trailer the plane back (terrible roads, too much paperwork).

3. Fly the aircraft back (most fun option, but also quite scary flying an unknown aircraft over a very remote and unforgiving countryside for over 30 hours!).

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59DOH ready for her first flight in nearly 5 years.

Naturally the decision was easy. Once I’d decided to fly the Savage home to South Africa and convinced my long suffering wife that it really was the best option, I approached a few flight clearance companies, and the quotes were ridiculous. Some quoted from R80,000 - R100,000 or more in clearance fees and overflight permits. Frustrated by this I gave James Pittman at Sling Aircraft a call, and his response was “That’s a load of crap - do it yourself and save a fortune.”

And that’s exactly what I did. I approached small clearing agents in each country and

managed to get clearances with some help from friends and acquaintances in Zimbabwe, Zambia and Tanzania. It quickly became obvious that the more backwards the country was, the more expensive the permits were.

Finally, by early November I was ready to roll. I made flight bookings for the flight to Entebbe and planned to take my 19 year old son along, who was in the early stages of

The ASI was in km/h - and placards seemed to be in Polish.

View from “2 Friends” Restaurant on the edge of Lake Victoria.

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Late afternoon test flight - spectacular Lake Victoria in the distance.

getting his PPL. However a few days before we were due to leave, he broke his foot, and was home bound for 6 weeks. One of his best friends, and a long-time family friend, Tyron, was close to completing his PPL, and jumped at the opportunity to join me on what would most likely be an adventure of a lifetime.

Flights were confirmed for 13 November, and I set about getting ready

with spare parts, tools, a set of 21 inch tyres and tubes (the original tyres were perished and not safe), and a decent 2 blade Meglin Propeller off one of my other Savages, while I ordered a new prop.

The aircraft only had a 65 litre fuel capacity, giving us just over three hours of endurance at 85 mph, not a great range when considering the vast stretches of African bush we needed to cover. To increase this, we planned to carry along 2 x 20L soft Jerry cans, giving us an additional two hours.

Conveniently, the aircraft had an interesting pump arrangement behind the back seat, which allowed us to pump fuel using a built-in fuel pump, connected via a pipe into the 3L header tank and then up into the wing tanks. We discovered on a long leg across Zambia, with nowhere but miombo woodland to land, that the pump operates just perfectly in flight… but that’s another story.

To be continued… 

The Mak-Queen hotel in Uganda.

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FACE TO FACE:

ELMAR CONRADIE

FlySafair started 7 years ago with just two Boeing 737-400s. Image Justin de Reuck.

Elmar Conradie is the CEO of FlySafair. As South Africa enters its ninth week of lockdown, he shares his views with Guy Leitch on the prospects for his airline and how they are responding to the Covid-19 crisis.

GL: Will FlySafair be able to survive if government does not assist you?

EC: If we do not get any assistance, we will have to be a lot more conservative about when we return to flying. We have to prevent ourselves from losing even more money when we start flying, so we cannot afford to restart gradually, with small loads. And this would be a pity because aviation connectivity is essential to enable the economy to recover. South Africa needs the airline industry to carry trade between cities, regions and internationally. So it will take longer for African economies to recover if the airlines canâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;t start flying again, and as soon as possible.

The government has just announced that airlines can start flying passengers for their business purposes. Can you do that profitably?

At this stage we need to find out what the actual regulations will be once the restrictions start being lifted. We will need to know who will be allowed to travel, and where and when. If we can only get say 30 or 40 people on a flight, we will lose money operating flights only for those people who have to fly for business.

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FlightCom Magazine

So it seems you may be in a double squeeze. On the on hand you cannot afford to continue to indefinitely not fly, but on the other hand, you may not be able to afford to start flying with the limited business-only loads you will have?

Yes. We need 85% load factors to break even, so without government assistance, we do not know if it will be feasible to fly only business people, even with higher ticket prices.

Government aid does not have to only be in the form of direct grants. What about tax and interest relief, as IATA is proposing?

Those are important as around 30% of our direct costs are taxes, levies and duties. This means that around 20% of our ticket costs are made up of some form of tax. While we accept that these are all essential services which must be paid for, we argue that these government entities are better placed to fund the recovery than private sector airlines are.

But Minister of Finance Tito Mboweni says government has no more money?

Parastatals are able to raise funds on the back of government guarantees, whereas the private sector finds it very difficult to raise funds. So we are proposing that government should look into ways to reduce those taxes and fees to the airlines. This could be achieved by waiving the fees levied by parastatals such as ACSA, ATNS, the CAA and the SA Weather Service.

If all these taxes and fees were waived, would the 30% reduction in costs enable you to operate profitably?

At this stage we would be happy with any concessions we get from government that will enable us to be viable and ultimately sustainable in the future.

If fuel is, let’s say, 33% of your variable costs and it is 33% cheaper than before the Covid crisis, then does this take a very valuable 10% out of your costs?

The lower oil price is definitely some help in the bigger scheme of things. But as is so often the case, the exchange rate has worked against us and that pushes up both fuel and lease/maintenance costs. The US Dollar is roughly 15%-20% more expensive than it was before all this. It’s not a complete offset, so the net position is a fraction stronger which will help to get operating costs down – but at the end of the day, we as Low Cost Carriers are price-takers and our yields are determined by the supply/demand dynamic in the passenger market. The concern at the moment is the weakness in that demand. In one regard it’s great to have reduced operating costs, but it doesn’t help much if you can’t even give your tickets away – you still operate at a loss.

by which we mean 12 to 18 months, then we decided that we would have to stick it out and try and keep as many of our employees as possible. That meant carrying the cost now, for the sake of having them available when we start flying again.

So which option have you chosen?

I hope I am not too optimistic or naïve, but I am of the view that the current crisis is a temporary one. We believe that our staff are one of our key competitive advantages. So we are trying to hold on to all our staff as long as we can.

FlySafair's Elmar Conradie - the benefits of a strong balance sheet and a well run business.

Image: Guy Leitch.

Are you providing any special assistance for your staff?

For April we managed to pay all our staff in full. But from May, all of our employees are on unpaid leave. As a company, we have made R10 million available each month for assistance to the employees to assist with Temporary Benefit claims and Unemployment Insurance payments. This has meant that our low-income earners are still getting about 80% of their salaries. However, some of the higher-end employees are facing up to 75% salary cuts.

WE HAD TO MAKE A DECISION AS TO WHETHER THE LOCKDOWN WOULD CAUSE A PERMANENT OR TEMPORARY CHANGE IN THE WAY WE DO BUSINESS Are you considering retrenchments?

When we entered the lockdown, we had to make a decision as to whether this was a permanent or temporary change in the way we do business. We realised that if it was permanent, then we would have to seriously reduce our workforce. But if it was a temporary thing,

In the absence of passengers, have you considered doing pure cargo flights - with cabin cargo - during the lockdown?

Yes, we’ve been quoting on many opportunities as they come up, but nothing that’s borne any fruit yet.

Are you looking at any particular changes on your business model to help you through the crisis? For instance – neutralising the middle seat?

Yes. Funnily enough as early as last year we started developing a new product aimed at the business market, where we could sell the middle seat as an extra benefit. We managed to finalise that during the lockdown. We think that’s going to be well received once we start flying again, particularly in terms of the need from business travellers.

How will neutralising the middle seat work in practice?

When you book on our website you can select either a window or an aisle seat. At that time you also get the option to block the middle seat.

How much more will it cost?

An extra R750. But as a combination that will be much cheaper than a normal business class ticket on a full-service carrier.

What about other ancillary revenue streams – which have become the life blood of low cost carriers?

Additional bags, a ticket refund ability, business class lounges – these are all options which passengers can select. So we can really recreate pretty much the whole business class experience. The passenger can pick and choose which parts he wants.

Will your ‘business-class’ offering include on board food and drinks?

Yes – it’ll work off a voucher basis for you to use on the trolley.

If you opt for the premium fare with the blocked seat option, you’ll get your snack allowance built into the fare. Otherwise you have the choice to build it in as an optional extra on the cheaper fares. But it’s a bit of a moot point at the moment, because during this intense infection prevention period there will be no catering on board.

Being able to buy the middle seat sounds like a good option for families and not just business expense account travellers?

Very much so. The product is aimed at families which would like to keep the middle seat open so that they do not have a stranger sitting next to perhaps one of their children. Or, if you’ve just want more space or privacy.

As a low cost carrier, refunds are not our normal business, so it is a logistical nightmare for us to try and process all the refunds. It was an enormous challenge for us to find a solution – and quickly. So when the first lockdown announcement was made, we decided that we would issue vouchers – which they were able to process through the website.

For bookings made since the lockdown started, but that we cannot fly due to the restrictions, we have cancelled all the bookings and issued vouchers to all the passengers – which they should have received via email.

How long are your vouchers valid for?

For a year. And then you can book for any flight for a further 12 months. So if you wait until the twelfth month, you can book another year in advance. This essentially provides for a 24 month window to fly the ticket.

How big an administrative challenge was it?

It was huge. Just in the first week we had to process over 70,000 claims. Logistically it wasn’t possible to do it any other way than to use vouchers.

African airline travel is limited by affordability – by the small size of the middle class. What do you expect will be the net effect of the Covid-19 crisis on ticket prices?

I think the good news for consumers is that when we do start unrestricted flying, ticket prices are going to be relatively inexpensive because there will be much excess capacity. But as the industry recovers and faces its hangover of a debt burden, prices will have to increase to more than they were pre-Covid-19. 

How have you been dealing with people who had booked and paid for tickets before the lock down and have been unable to fly? Are you providing vouchers or refunds?

2 x 1/4 share available in a well run Proprietary Limited company.

All assets and aviation activities administered through this entity.

For more information contact: Glen +27 83 447 5259 or Steve +27 82 881 5293 Assets include: • Hanger (Eagles Creek) • 2005 Cirrus22-G2 • 1966 C182-J • Aeroprakt A22

38

FlightCom Magazine

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VISION STATEMENT To become the preferred aviation lubricants supplier in Southern Africa, by sharing with our customers the benefits of using AeroShell Lubricants, and how taking advantage of technology in oil can increase the bottom line of any aviation business.

MISSION STATEMENT To share with customers the maintenance savings available to them by using AeroShell Lubricants and in doing so increase our aviation lubricants market share in Commercial Airlines, Militaries and the General Aviation space in our region of the world.

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AERO ENGINEERING & POWERPLANT

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FlightCom Magazine

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• Overhaul / Shockload / Repair of Continental and Lycoming Aircraft engines; •Overhaul Engine; Components; •Overhaul and supply of Hartzell / McCauley and Fix pitch Propellers Hangar no 4, Wonderboom Airport , Pretoria PO Box 17699, Pretoria North, 0116 • Tel: (012) 543 0948/51 • Fax: (012) 543 9447 • email: aeroeng@iafrica.com AMO No: 227

FLIGHT SAFETY THROUGH MAINTENANCE

FlightCom Magazine

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Hangarage

Export Docs & Clearing

Lodge Transfers

(armed)

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Security Based

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Surveys

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Contracts

Safari Charters

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Freight

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> 20 pax

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< 20 pax

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We are for the journey

BACKPAGE DIR DIRECT ECTORY ORY A1A Flight Examiner (Loutzavia) Jannie Loutzis 012 567 6775 / 082 416 4069 jannie@loutzavia.co.za www.loutzavia.co.za

Alpi Aviation SA Dale De Klerk 082 556 3592 dale@alpiaviation.co.za www.alpiaviation.co.za

Adventure Air Lande Milne 012 543 3196 / Cell: 066 4727 848 l.milne@venture-sa.co.za www.ventureglobal.biz

Apco (Ptyd) Ltd Tony/Henk + 27 12 543 0775 apcosupport@mweb.co.za www.apcosa.co.za

Comporob Composite Repair & Manufacture Felix Robertson 072 940 4447 083 265 3602 comporob@lantic.net www.comporob.co.za Corporate-Aviators/Affordable Jet Sales Mike Helm 082 442 6239 corporate-aviators@iafrica.com www.corporate-aviators.com

Flying Frontiers Craig Lang 082 459 0760 CraigL@fairfield.co.za C. W. Price & Co www.flyingfrontiers.com AES (Cape Town) Aref Avionics Kelvin L. Price Erwin Erasmus Hannes Roodt 011 805 4720 Flying Unlimited Flight School (Pty) Ltd 082 494 3722 082 462 2724 cwp@cwprice.co.za Riaan Struwig erwin@aeroelectrical.co.za arefavionics@border.co.za www.cwprice.co.za 082 653 7504 / 086 770 8376 www.aeroelectrical.co.za

riaan@ppg.co.za Atlas Aviation Lubricants Dart Aeronautical www.ppg.co.za AES (Johannesburg) Steve Cloete Jaco Kelly Danie van Wyk 011 917 4220 011 827 8204 Foster Aero International 011 701 3200 Fax: 011 917 2100 dartaero@mweb.co.za Dudley Foster office@aeroelectrical.co.za Sales.aviation@atlasoil.co.za 011 659 2533 www.aeroelectrical.co.za www.atlasoil.africa Dart Aircraft Electrical info@fosteraero.co.za Mathew Joubert www.fosteraero.co.za Aerocore ATNS 011 827 0371 Jacques Podde Percy Morokane Dartaircraftelectrical@gmail.com Gemair 082 565 2330 011 607 1234 www.dartaero.co.za Andries Venter jacques@aerocore.co.za percymo@atns.co.za 011 701 2653 / 082 905 5760 www.aerocore.co.za www.atns.com DJA Aviation Insurance andries@gemair.co.za

011 464 5550 Aero Engineering & PowerPlant Aviation Direct 0800Flying GIB Aviation Insurance Brokers Andre Labuschagne Andrea Antel mail@dja-aviation.co.za Richard Turner 012 543 0948 011 465 2669 www.dja-aviation.co.za 011 483 1212 aeroeng@iafrica.com info@aviationdirect.co.za aviation@gib.co.za

www.aviationdirect.co.za Dynamic Propellers www.gib.co.za Aero Services (Pty) Ltd Andries Visser Chris Scott Avtech Aircraft Services 011 824 5057 Gryphon Flight Academy 011 395 3587 Riekert Stroh 082 445 4456 Jeffrey Von Holdt chris@aeroservices.co.za 082 555 2808 / 082 749 9256 andries@dynamicpropeller.co.za 011 701 2600 www.aeroservices.co.za avtech1208@gmail.com www.dynamicpropellers.co.za info@gryphonflight.co.za

www.gryphonflight.co.za Aeronav Academy BAC Aviation AMO 115 Eagle Aviation Helicopter Division Donald O’Connor Micky Joss Tamryn van Staden Guardian Air 011 701 3862 035 797 3610 082 657 6414 011 701 3011 info@aeronav.co.za monicad@bacmaintenance.co.za tamryn@eaglehelicopter.co.za 082 521 2394 www.aeronav.co.za

www.eaglehelicopter.co.za ops@guardianair.co.za Blackhawk Africa

www.guardianair.co.za Aeronautical Aviation Cisca de Lange Eagle Flight Academy

Clinton Carroll 083 514 8532 Mr D. J. Lubbe Heli-Afrique cc 011 659 1033 / 083 459 6279 cisca@blackhawk.aero 082 557 6429 Tino Conceicao clinton@aeronautical.co.za www.blackhawk.aero training@eagleflight.co.za 083 458 2172 www.aeronautical.co.za www.eagleflight.co.za tino.conceicao@heli-afrique.co.za Blue Chip Flight School

Aerotric (Pty) Ltd Henk Kraaij Elite Aviation Academy Henley Air Richard Small 012 543 3050 Jacques Podde Andre Coetzee 083 488 4535 bluechip@bluechip-avia.co.za 082 565 2330 011 827 5503 aerotric@aol.com www.bluechipflightschool.co.za info@eliteaa.co.za andre@henleyair.co.za www.eliteaa.co.za www.henleyair.co.za Aircraft Assembly and Upholstery Centre Border Aviation Club & Flight School Tony/Siggi Bailes Liz Gous Emperor Aviation Hover Dynamics 082 552 6467 043 736 6181 Paul Sankey Phillip Cope anthony@rvaircraft.co.za admin@borderaviation.co.za 082 497 1701 / 011 824 5683 074 231 2964 www.rvaircraft.co.za www.borderaviation.co.za paul@emperoraviation.co.za info@hover.co.za

www.emperoraviation.co.za www.hover.co.za Aircraft Finance Corporation Breytech Aviation cc

Jaco Pietersen 012 567 3139 Enstrom/MD Helicopters Indigo Helicopters +27 [0]82 672 2262 Willie Breytenbach Andrew Widdall Gerhard Kleynhans jaco@airfincorp.co.za admin@breytech.co.za 011 397 6260 082 927 4031 / 086 528 4234 www.airfincorp.co.za aerosa@safomar.co.za veroeschka@indigohelicopters.co.za Bundu Aviation www.safomar.co.za www.indigohelicopters.co.za Aircraft Maintenance @ Work Phillip Cronje Opelo / Frik 083 485 2427 Era Flug Flight Training IndigoSat South Africa - Aircraft Tracking 012 567 3443 info@bunduaviation.co.za Pierre Le Riche Gareth Willers frik@aviationatwork.co.za_ www.bunduaviation.co.za 021 934 7431 08600 22 121 opelonke@aviationatwork.co.za info@era-flug.com sales@indigosat.co.za Celeste Sani Pak & Inflight Products www.era-flug.com www.indigosat.co.za Aircraft Maintenance International Steve Harris Pine Pienaar 011 452 2456 Execujet Africa Integrated Avionic Solutions 083 305 0605 admin@chemline.co.za 011 516 2300 Gert van Niekerk gm@aminternational.co.za www.chemline.co.za enquiries@execujet.co.za 082 831 5032 www.execujet.com gert@iasafrica.co.za Aircraft Maintenance International Cape Aircraft Interiors www.iasafrica.co.za Wonderboom Sarel Schutte Federal Air Thomas Nel 021 934 9499 Nick Lloyd-Roberts International Flight Clearances 082 444 7996 michael@wcaeromarine.co.za 011 395 9000 Steve Wright admin@aminternational.co.za www.zscai.co.za shuttle@fedair.com 076 983 1089 (24 Hrs) www.fedair.com flightops@flyifc.co.za Air Line Pilots’ Association Cape Town Flying Club www.flyifc.co.za Sonia Ferreira Beverley Combrink Ferry Flights int.inc.

011 394 5310 021 934 0257 / 082 821 9013 Michael (Mick) Schittenhelm Investment Aircraft alpagm@iafrica.com info@capetownflyingclub.co.za 082 442 6239 Quinton Warne www.alpa.co.za www.@capetownflyingclub.co.za ferryflights@ferry-flights.com 082 806 5193

www.ferry-flights.com aviation@lantic.net Airshift Aircraft Sales Capital Air www.investmentaircraft.com Eugene du Plessis Micaella Vinagre Fireblade Aviation 082 800 3094 011 827 0335 010 595 3920 Jabiru Aircraft eugene@airshift.co.za micaella@capitalairsa.com info@firebladeaviation.com Len Alford www.airshift.co.za www.capitalairsa.com www.firebladeaviation.com 044 876 9991 / 044 876 9993

info@jabiru.co.za Airvan Africa Century Avionics cc Flight Training College www.jabiru.co.za Patrick Hanly Carin van Zyl Cornell Morton 082 565 8864 011 701 3244 044 876 9055 Jim Davis Books airvan@border.co.za sales@centuryavionics.co.za ftc@flighttrainning.co.za Jim Davis www.airvan.co.za www.centuryavionics.co.za www.flighttraining.co.za 072 188 6484

jim@border.co.za Algoa Flying Club Chemetall Flight Training Services www.jimdavis.co.za Sharon Mugridge Wayne Claassens Amanda Pearce

041 581 3274 011 914 2500 011 805 9015/6 Joc Air T/A The Propeller Shop info@algoafc.co.za wayne.claassens@basf.com amanda@fts.co.za Aiden O’Mahony www.algoafc.co.za www.chemetall.com www.fts.co.za 011 701 3114

jocprop@iafrica.com Alpha One Aviation Chem-Line Aviation & Celeste Products Fly Jetstream Aviation Opelo Steve Harris Henk Kraaij Kishugu Aviation 082 301 9977 011 452 2456 083 279 7853 +27 13 741 6400 on@alphaoneaviation.co.za sales@chemline.co.za charter@flyjetstream.co.za comms@kishugu.com www.alphaoneaviation.co.za www.chemline.co.za www.flyjetstream.co.za www.kishugu.com/kishugu-aviation



FlightCom Magazine

43

BACKPAGE DIR DIRECT ECTORY ORY Kit Planes for Africa Stefan Coetzee 013 793 7013 info@saplanes.co.za www.saplanes.co.za

MS Aviation Gary Templeton 082 563 9639 gary.templeton@msaviation.co.za www.msaviation.co.za

Kzn Aviation (Pty) Ltd Melanie Jordaan 031 564 6215 mel@kznaviation.co.za www.kznaviation.co.za

North East Avionics Keith Robertson +27 13 741 2986 keith@northeastavionics.co.za deborah@northeastavionics.co.za www.northeastavionics.co.za Landing Eyes Gavin Brown Orsmond Aviation 031 202 5703 058 303 5261 info@landingeyes.co.za info@orsmondaviation.co.za www.landingeyes.com www.orsmondaviation.co.za

Lanseria Aircraft Interiors Owenair (Pty) Ltd Francois Denton Clive Skinner 011 659 1962 / 076 810 9751 082 923 9580 francois@aircraftcompletions.co.za clive.skinner@owenair.co.za www.owenwair.co.za Lanseria International Airport Mike Christoph Pacair 011 367 0300 Wayne Bond mikec@lanseria.co.za 033 386 6027 www.lanseria.co.za pacair@telkomsa.net

Skyworx Aviation Kevin Hopper kevin@skyworx.co.za www.skyworxaviation.co.za

Legend Sky 083 860 5225 / 086 600 7285 info@legendssky.co.za www.legendsky.co.za

PFERD-South Africa (Pty) Ltd Hannes Nortman 011 230 4000 hannes.nortman@pferd.co.za www.pferd.com

Southern Energy Company (Pty) Ltd Elke Bertram +264 8114 29958 johnnym@sec.com.na www.sec.com.na

Litson & Associates (Pty) Ltd OGP, BARS, Resources Auditing & Aviation Training karen.litson@litson.co.za Phone: 27 (0) 21 8517187 www.litson.co.za

Pipistrel Kobus Nel 083 231 4296 kobus@pipistrelsa.co.za www.pipistrelsa.co.za

Southern Rotorcraft cc Mr Reg Denysschen Tel no: 0219350980 sasales@rotors-r-us.com www.rotors-r-us.com

Plane Maintenance Facility Johan 083 300 3619 pmf@myconnection.co.za

Sport Plane Builders Pierre Van Der Walt 083 361 3181 pmvdwalt@mweb.co.za

Precision Aviation Services Marnix Hulleman 012 543 0371 marnix@pasaviation.co.za www.pasaviation.co.za

PSG Aviation Reon Wiese 0861 284 284 reon.wiese@psg.co.za www.psg aviation.co.za

Starlite Aero Sales Klara Fouché +27 83 324 8530 / +27 31 571 6600 klaraf@starliteaviation.com www.starliteaviation.com

Rainbow SkyReach (Pty) Ltd Mike Gill 011 817 2298 Mike@fly-skyreach.com www.fly-skyreach.com

Rand Airport Stuart Coetzee 011 827 8884 stuart@randairport.co.za www.randairport.co.za

Robin Coss Aviation Robin Coss 021 934 7498 info@cossaviation.com www.cossaviation.co.za

Starlite Aviation Training Academy Durban: +27 31 571 6600 Mossel Bay: +27 44 692 0006 train@starliteaviation.com www.starliteaviation.com

Litson & Associates Risk Management Services (Pty) Ltd. eSMS-S/eTENDER/ eREPORT/Advisory Services karen.litson@litson.co.za Phone: 27 (0) 8517187 www.litson.co.za Loutzavia Aircraft Sales Henry Miles 082 966 0911 henry@loutzavia.co.za www.loutzavia.co.za

Loutzavia Flight Training Gerhardt Botha 012 567 6775 ops@loutzavia.co.za www.loutzavia.co.za Loutzavia-Pilots and Planes Maria Loutzis 012 567 6775 maria@loutzavia.co.za www.pilotsnplanes.co.za Loutzavia Rand Frans Pretorius 011 824 3804 rand@loutzavia.co.za www@loutzavia.co.za Lowveld Aero Club Pugs Steyn 013 741 3636 Flynow@lac.co.za Marshall Eagle Les Lebenon 011 958 1567 les@marshalleagle.co.za www.marshalleagle.co.za Maverick Air Charters Chad Clark 083 292 2270 Charters@maverickair.co.za www.maverickair.co.za MCC Aviation Pty Ltd Claude Oberholzer 011 701 2332 info@flymcc.co.za www.flymcc.co.za

MH Aviation Services (Pty) Ltd Marc Pienaar 011 609 0123 / 082 940 5437 customerrelations@mhaviation.co.za www.mhaviation.co.za M and N Acoustic Services cc Martin de Beer 012 689 2007/8 calservice@mweb.co.za

Metropolitan Aviation (Pty) Ltd Gert Mouton 082 458 3736 herenbus@gmail.com Money Aviation Angus Money 083 263 2934 angus@moneyaviation.co.za www.moneyaviation.co.za

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Skyhorse Aviation Ryan Louw 012 809 3571 info@skyhorse.co.za www.skyhorse.co.za

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SAA Technical (SOC) Ltd SAAT Marketing 011 978 9993 satmarketing@flysaa.com www.flysaa.com/technical SABRE Aircraft Richard Stubbs 083 655 0355 richardstubbs@mweb.co.za www.aircraftafrica.co.za SA Mooney Patrick Hanly 082 565 8864 samooney@border.co.za www.samooney.co.za Savannah Helicopters De Jager 082 444 1138 / 044 873 3288 dejager@savannahhelicopters.co.za www.savannahhelicopters.co.za Scenic Air Christa van Wyk +264 612 492 68 windhoek@scenic-air.com www.scenic-air.com Sheltam Aviation Durban Susan Ryan 083 505 4882 susanryan@sheltam.com www.sheltamaviation.com Sheltam Aviation PE Brendan Booker 082 497 6565 brendanb@sheltam.com www.sheltamaviation.com

Sky-Tech Heinz Van Staden 082 720 5210 sky-tech@telkomsa.net www.sky-tech.za.com Sling Aircraft Kim Bell-Cross 011 948 9898 sales@airplanefactory.co.za www.airplanefactory.co.za

Solenta Aviation (Pty Ltd) Paul Hurst 011 707 4000 info@solenta.com www.solenta.com

Starlite Aviation Operations Trisha Andhee +27 82 660 3018/ +27 31 571 6600 trishaa@starliteaviation.com www.starliteaviation.com

Status Aviation (Pty) Ltd Richard Donian 074 587 5978 / 086 673 5266 info@statusaviation.co.za www.statusaviation.co.za Superior Pilot Services Liana Jansen van Rensburg 0118050605/2247 info@superiorair.co.za www.superiorair.co.za

The Copter Shop Bill Olmsted 082 454 8555 execheli@iafrica.com www.execheli.wixsite.com/the-coptershop-sa Titan Helicopter Group 044 878 0453 info@titanhelicopters.com www.titanhelicopters.com TPSC Dennis Byrne 011 701 3210 turboprop@wol.co.za Trio Helicopters & Aviation cc CR Botha or FJ Grobbelaar 011 659 1022

stoffel@trioavi.co.za/frans@trioavi.co.za

www.trioavi.co.za

Tshukudu Trailers Pieter Visser 083 512 2342 deb@tshukudutrailers.co.za www.tshukudutrailers.co.za U Fly Training Academy Nikola Puhaca 011 824 0680 ufly@telkomsa.net www.uflyacademy.co.za

United Charter cc Jonathan Wolpe 083 270 8886 jonathan.wolpe@unitedcharter.co.za www.unitedcharter.co.za

United Flight Support Clinton Moodley/Jonathan Wolpe 076 813 7754 / 011 788 0813 ops@unitedflightsupported.com www.unitedflightsupport.com Unique Air Charter Nico Pienaar 082 444 7994 nico@uniqueair.co.za www.uniqueair.co.za

Unique Flight Academy Nico Pienaar 082 444 7994 nico@uniqueair.co.za www.uniqueair.co.za

Van Zyl Aviation Services Colette van Zyl 012 997 6714 admin@vanzylaviationco.za www.vanzylaviation.co.za

Vector Aerospace Jeff Poirier +902 888 1808 jeff.poirier@vectoraerospace.com www.vectoraerospace.com Velocity Aviation Collin Pearson 011 659 2306 / 011 659 2334 collin@velocityaviation.co.za www.velocityaviation.co.za Villa San Giovanni Luca Maiorana 012 111 8888 info@vsg.co.za www.vsg.co.za Vortx Aviation Bredell Roux 072 480 0359 info@vortx.co.za www.vortxaviation.com Wagtail Aviation Johan van Ludwig 082 452 8194 acrochem@mweb.co.za www.wagtail.co.za Wanafly Adrian Barry 082 493 9101 adrian@wanafly.net www.wanafly.co.za Windhoek Flight Training Centre Thinus Dreyer 0026 40 811284 180 pilots@flywftc.com www.flywftc.com Wings n Things Wendy Thatcher 011 701 3209 wendy@wingsnthings.co.za www.wingsnthings.co.za Witbank Flight School Andre De Villiers 083 604 1718 andredv@lantic.net www.waaflyingclub.co.za Wonderboom Airport Peet van Rensburg 012 567 1188/9 peet@wonderboomairport.co.za www.wonderboomairport.co.za

Zandspruit Bush & Aero Estate Martin Den Dunnen 082 449 8895 martin@zandspruit.co.za www.zandspruit.co.za Zebula Golf Estate & SPA Reservations 014 734 7700 reception@zebula.co.za www.zebula.co.za

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